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Unlike other professional sports leagues, where teams don't always play everyone every season, the NBA schedule is fluid in the sense that all 30 teams play each other at least two times over the course of the 82-game season. That is why there aren't many surprises when the schedule is released every August.
Still, there are must-see matchups that come to light, and the schedule release is basically a signal that the new NBA season has arrived.
Of course, the NBA schedule release this offseason gave fans a glimpse at what the landscape of nationally televised games will be.
With the new media rights deal taking over, TNT and NBA TV are no longer on the broadcasting lineup, as they have been replaced by NBC, Peacock, and Amazon Prime. ESPN and ABC will continue broadcasting games throughout the season.
To nobody's surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are among the four teams to receive the most national TV games this upcoming season because of LeBron James and Stephen Curry, respectively. The Lakers and Warriors are joined by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks — all four teams having 34 nationally televised games.
On top of the national TV game numbers being released, the number of back-to-backs was more prominent information discovered on Thursday. Holiday games were confirmed, the league announced this year's Rivals Week, and dates were locked in for return games of key names who were on the move this offseason.
Kevin Durant, Michael Porter Jr., Bradley Beal, Myles Turner, and Desmond Bane are among the many players who will be looking forward to their “revenge games” this season, if you will.
There is so much to discuss regarding the 2025-26 NBA schedule release, starting with the fact that LeBron and Steph are clearly the top two faces of the league despite nearing the end of their respective Hall of Fame careers.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry remain faces of NBA
If there were any questions about who the face of the NBA was entering the 2025-26 season, Adam Silver and the league office answered that on Thursday with their schedule release.
Sure, New York is a big market, and Oklahoma City is coming off its first title in franchise history, but NBA fans want to see LeBron James and Stephen Curry. That is why the Lakers and Warriors are tied with the Thunder and Knicks for the most nationally televised games for the upcoming year.
Until these two legends retire, they will remain the top American basketball ambassadors, and that was clear in 2024 when these two, along with Kevin Durant, led Team USA to the gold medal at the Olympic Games in France.
James and Curry are not only multi-time MVPs, but they are also responsible for eight of the last 14 championships. It isn't a coincidence that the league continues to market them as the faces of the league.
As long as they are healthy and playing, LeBron and Steph will continue to be on TV the most.
It's time to make Trade Deadline day a holiday on NBA schedule
The NBA trade deadline is always a very crazy time around the league. There is always an eerie feeling for players whose names are popping up in rumors, and the uncertainty that surrounds players relocating and leaving their families in the middle of the year is always very stressful.
This season, the trade deadline will be Thursday, February 5, at 3 pm ET. With the way the NBA schedule has been constructed, there will be eight games featuring 16 teams that day.
Is it time for the NBA to make trade deadline day a league-wide holiday and simply give everyone a day to themselves?
Between the emotions of players running high and certain guys being held out of the lineup because of pending trades, it just makes sense for teams and players to have this time to themselves. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been an advocate for this, as he suggested such a change to the NBA after this past season's trade deadline.
“I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break,” Kerr told reporters in February. “Just so you don’t have to face these games where guys are getting traded half an hour before a game and you’re trying to process the emotions and trying to win a game.”
Kerr and the Warriors experienced this very problem when they were without Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, and Dennis Schroder after trading for Jimmy Butler.
Of the 16 teams playing on the day of the trade deadline, five of them will be facing a back-to-back scenario.
With the NBA All-Star break being the following week, perhaps it makes the most sense to lump the trade deadline in with that week-long break, as it would give everyone the proper time to adjust to changes that are made.
NBA schedule punishes 76ers in worst way possible
Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers were decimated by injuries.
Joel Embiid continues to battle knee ailments that have many around the league worried about his long-term health, and Paul George recently underwent an offseason knee procedure that has his training camp status in doubt.
The NBA's schedule release on Thursday was not favorable to the Sixers whatsoever; as it turns out, they are tied for the most back-to-backs in the league during the 2025-26 season. Philadelphia will have 16 back-to-backs this year, meaning a total of 32 games, or 39 percent of their schedule, face the dreaded back-to-back situation.
NBA team total back-to-backs for the 2024-25 season:
PHI: 16
DEN: 16
PHX: 16
CHA: 16
WAS: 16
LAC: 15
TOR: 15
POR: 15
NOP: 15
GSW: 15
MIA: 15
UTA: 15
SAC: 14
SAS: 14
CLE: 14
DET: 14
HOU: 14
MEM: 14
MIL: 14
ORL: 14
BKN: 14
LAL: 14
MIN: 13
NYK: 13
OKC: 13
DAL: 13
CHI: 13
IND: 13…— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 14, 2025
This is not good whatsoever for a Sixers team that isn't healthy entering the whole year and has made it known Embiid likely won't play back-to-backs for the rest of his career.
The Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets also have the same number of back-to-backs this season as the 76ers.
It will be very interesting to see not only how Nick Nurse manages his star players' minutes this season but also how the 76ers look in a weaker Eastern Conference. This franchise can absolutely regain relevance, yet health is the deciding factor in how the 2025-26 season will play out in Philadelphia.
One of the greatest observations from Thursday's schedule release is that the team impacted by injuries the most last season will have the least amount of time between a vast majority of their games this year.
That was a brutal fact for the 76ers and their fans to find out.
Who are the NBA's actual rivals?
NBA Rivals Week is back during the 2025-26 season, and fans will be delighted to see plenty of high-level matchups headlining this week of action.
Aside from classic rivalries like the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks vs. the Philadelphia 76ers, a rematch of the 2025 NBA Finals will take place in Oklahoma City.
But overall, some of these matchups, especially those on national TV, don't make a whole lot of sense as being called “rivalries.”
Obviously, everyone wants to watch the Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks in Texas, but is this really a rivalry game? From Luka Doncic's perspective, it's definitely a revenge game, but these two teams haven't been rivals in quite some time.
The same can be said about the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Charlotte Hornets, as the only connections these two organizations have are that their city starts with the letter C and this game will feature two Ball brothers — Lonzo Ball (Cleveland Cavaliers) and LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets).
Also, when did the Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks become rivals? Although Oklahoma City lost to Milwaukee in the 2024 NBA Cup Championship, these two teams have zero history between them.
If you want to highlight the league's best rivalries, you have the Warriors and Houston Rockets playing against one another, or the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets squaring off. Even Oklahoma City and Denver playing one another could be considered a current-day rivalry.
And most of all, what about the Bucks and Indiana Pacers?
These two teams practically fight one another every time they play, and Myles Turner just left Indiana to join Milwaukee. The Pacers just won the Eastern Conference, and that matchup would be one of the most anticipated rivalry games if it were on TV for “Rivals Week.”
Although we have some great games on the schedule for this week in January, it doesn't seem like the league maximized the true meaning of the current rivalries in the NBA. Everyone wants to see teams that hate one another have to face off during “Rivals Week,” and yet we are left wondering why some of these matchups are considered rivalries.
The best ‘revenge games' on 2025-26 NBA schedule
One of the key details everyone looks for when the NBA schedule drops in August is revenge games, meaning players who were either traded or signed with a new team in free agency facing off against their former organizations.
Players going back to play their old teams always brings a certain type of energy.
For example, there are the humble and wholesome moments, like when Klay Thompson returned to San Francisco and got a grand ovation from Warriors fans. There are then matchups like when the Lakers visited the Mavericks last season for the first time since Doncic was traded.
Although this too was a wholesome moment for Luka and the Mavs fans, it truly felt like a revenge game where Doncic was playing with a chip on his shoulder.
So, which return games will be feel-good moments, and which will actually be revenge games?
The biggest name is Kevin Durant, who will play against the Phoenix Suns for the first time since being traded to Houston on November 24. There should be plenty of those cheering in Phoenix for Durant, but he kind of forced his way out and welcomed a trade this offseason. This game will be met with mixed reviews from Suns fans.
Khris Middleton returning to Milwaukee, Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins returning to Golden State, and Michael Porter Jr. returning to Denver will all be met with applause and cheers. All of these players were loved by their organizations and won championships with their respective teams, so there shouldn't be any ill feelings whatsoever.
The same cannot be said for Myles Turner and the Pacers.
Turner jumped ship this offseason after the NBA Finals in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles injury, and he decided to join the Bucks. Oh, and the Bucks happen to be the Pacers' biggest rivals, which should sit well with Indiana fans.
As much as he meant to the organization, Turner will be met with plenty of boos and irate fans when he returns to Indiana on November 3. Mark that date down on your calendar, and make sure you have access to NBA League Pass for that one!
Other than Turner, there aren't many revenge games on this year's NBA schedule. A lot of the returns will be met with gratitude and appreciation, but from each player's perspective, they will be giving it a little bit more that night to prove something to their former clubs.
Figuring out who is returning to their former team and when is always a highlight of the NBA schedule release.
