OKC’s Steve McGehee Reacts | Oklahoma City Thunder Release 2025 2026 Schedule | News 9 Sports
[Music] Streaming from Oklahoma’s own digital studio, this is Jeremy Popplin with Thunder Breakdown. That’s right, it’s been a little while, but it is time for another Thunder Breakdown here live from the digital desk. And oh, we’ve got some new Oklahoma City Thunder news for you. Welcome in to everyone watching as the 202526 NBA schedule was released in its entirety late yesterday afternoon. And that means we finally get to start making plans for what our next Thunder season look like looks like and what nights that we’ll be inside of the arena and what nights that we’ll be spinning in front of the television with plenty of more opportunities now for the nationally televised audience to see the Oklahoma City Thunder. So without further ado, let’s welcome in News9’s Steve McGee, the Thunder reporter, as we get set to break down this new schedule release. And Steve, it’s a pretty impressive schedule for the Oklahoma City Thunder. We’ll dive into some of the numbers here in a moment, but uh what’s the first thing that stands out to you when you look at this new Thunder schedule that was released yesterday? For traveling p purposes, I look at that. Okay, where are we starting? We knew they were going to start at home with Houston, but how how long will we be at home? And we’re not home for very long. But I always look at where we’re starting. What’s it look like over Thanksgiving? And that’s at home. That’s a plus with the family. What’s it look like over the Christmas days? They’re home. That’s a plus as well. They also again playing on New Year’s Eve. I think since the team moved here, they’ve always played on New Year’s Eve. They play the Blazers on New Year’s Eve and then they hit the road, I think, to Phoenix. But uh now also where they finish uh they almost finished all the games on the west coast, but they do have one home game against the Phoenix Suns on a Sunday night to wrap up the season. So um those are some of the things I look at, but the thing that kind of jumped out to me was three out of their first four games will be on the road and their first I think all let’s see here all their first three games will be at 6:30. And you know, something we talk about later, but the, you know, we’re so used to those seven o’clock start times. Seven o’clock starts for the Thunder this year will be a rarity. You know, the the first thing that I start looking for when I scan through the schedule is I start looking for the cluster of home games and cluster of road games, you know, with those difficult stretches. And the first one that stood out to me just looking and it’ll be a while before we get there, but right after the new year, we’ll start with what the 15th of January. Uh you have a a quad set of games there on the road, which is at Houston, at Miami, at Cleveland, and at Milwaukee. I mean, that’s if we’re just to take those teams at their current face value before we’ve even started the season, that’s a pretty little difficult four game swing there for OKC. And that’s that’s probably their toughest road trip. That’s a pretty strong uh trio of games there. And the thing I see for traveling for me is we’re we’re at 75 degree Miami and then I getting off the plane in Ohio and it’s maybe 7°. So that’s where my allergies take over. So that that’s what I see from this schedule. I don’t see like Miami could be a tough game. Of course, Cleveland’s going to be tough. I see I see Oh, we’re going from 70 degrees to 10 degrees. That that could be tough. And but MLK day MLK day game I think at what 130 for uh the Thunder against the Cleveland Cavaliers. And then you know they they finish up that road trip at Cleveland. So at Miami, at Cleveland, at Milwaukee, and of course that trip starts at Houston. So that’s probably your toughest road trip of the season. They do have one in March that’s longer, five days, but that includes the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards, and they got a couple of days between that Nets and Wizards game to kind of rest up and or maybe uh they have an invitation to the White House to celebrate that championship. will, you know, mums the word on that at the moment. But there is that two-day break between the Nets and the Wizards for that to be possible, but that looks like their toughest road trip of the season at Houston, at Miami, at Cleveland, at Milwaukee. That that’s pretty strong. But this team had some tough road trips last year, and it didn’t one bit. We’ll get into your uh suitcase of choice for some of those trips here coming up in in just a bit. Uh you you mentioned the one other element that I wanted to bring up and that was by the time we get into March uh this stretch of games at Orlando, Brooklyn, Washington, Philly, Boston, then they come back home for a significant stretch with Chicago, New York, Detroit, the Lakers, and Utah. Three more games on the road. And I I thought the combination of these games was interesting, Steve. At the Lakers, at the Clippers, and then at Denver, finishing off with Phoenix. I think both of us think that Phoenix will be in the tank completely at that point in time, but that’s a very interesting mix of teams there towards the very end. And no one really knows what the end of the season is going to look like or the race in the West. That sets up for at least some interesting moments before we even get the season starting looking that far ahead cuz normally you know last year they start sitting guys three four games left in the season. and they should have sat dubbed one game sooner when he got hurt his wrist in that Phoenix game while everyone else was sitting out. But lessons learned, but you know, we don’t know on April 7th and April 8th what the Lakers, as you mentioned, what the Lakers and Clippers will be doing because, you know, just like the Thunder, everybody else is kind of wants to rest up for the playoffs, but they could be buying for, you know, seed 2, seed three, seed one, seed four. Uh so, you know, at that point, it’s very interesting. It could be great matchups, uh, enticing at the end of the year. In the NBA, some of those late matchups get kind of boring because people are already in place and so they sit their stars. So, it’s either going to be great matchups or they’re going to be dog matchups. But, you know, that’ll be fun to watch. But, um, um, Clippers, Lakers, it’s a backto back and you wish they were at the same arena, but, you know, one’s at two at Dome and then one’s downtown Los Angeles. But, uh, you know, I’m not going to change hotels for that either. either I’ll stay by the airport or I’ll stay downtown. That that’s how I see that matchup though. But uh they finished up the year a couple of years ago. Uh I think it was the second the second and the last tanking year they finished up at Staple Center with the Clippers and the Lakers. I think they only played six guys in both games. They were, you know, that’s the truly we’re not trying to win button and it worked. Yes. That guy. One of the the big storylines over the past couple years with the resurgence and even a better record has been how come this team doesn’t get as many nationally televised games. Well, look what happens when you win the NBA championship. Guess what? You get the most nationally televised games. Now, this is a little bit different and I’m sure everyone’s aware now. The new NBA TV rights kicks in this following season. So, there’s going to be more opportunities outside of the local broadcast for the entire country. now to be able to lay eyes on the thunder and that includes their new deal with NBC. ESPN and ABC are still in the mix. You’ve got Prime Video Game video games and now you also have the Peacock package kicking in as well. Some of those I think the first game is an NBC Peacock combo. Uh but Steve, what 34 nationally televised games which ties them uh for the league league. Pretty impressive. That’s what happens when you win it all. And I thought they should have been on national TV. I’m still shocked they were not playing on Christmas uh last year and you heard me say this before the game December 26th between the Pacers and Thunder was your NBA finals. So somebody missed out on that one but um what’s interesting I saw my veterinarian earlier today and he goes so do I have to buy more apps because I have the dual sports app. I’m like well if you want to see all the games you’re going to have to get the Peacock app and the and the Prime app or you know and I don’t I don’t think you’d like that answer. So I go, “Of course, you know, I’ll be there at 5, six, and 10 for you this to tell you why they won, why they lost.” You know, he kind of smiled on. Yeah, but welcome to being a sports fan in 25. I mean, it’s it’s crazy. The same thing waw note. I know this is a little dirt road we’re taking here, but if you wanted to watch every NFL game, the total price tag this year would be $1,200 to watch every NFL game. So, with the new NBA media rights deal, I I like what the NBA has done. It’s just providing more access to fans to be able to watch games. Of course, we get them here in Oklahoma all the time, but from a national perspective, hey, winning the championship and now you’re going to get your eyeball share full of the thunder now moving forward, especially with as good as they are. Well, it’s a, you know, a sweet contract for the NBA and that’s more money in the pockets for the guys who bills in the NBA, the the governors, the owners of these teams. So, of course, yeah, let’s let’s do this thing. Um, for the consumer though, if you want to watch all those games, you better get app and you better get that app. And I’m old, we’re old school. I’m used to just turning on the cable TV and changing the channel. There’s the game. You know, that that that doesn’t exist anymore. But, um, uh, you know, I’m all for it. It’s just something we have to adapt to. You know, streaming is is taking over on the broadcast side. You know, every year there’s more and more to the streaming side. I’m not sure what the uh you know the major TV companies can do to you know you know get those games on their channels from 7 to 10 o’clock. Of course ABC will have some. NBC will have some as well. But uh you know if you want to watch the Thunder you’re going to have to get those apps and you know and if you if you don’t want to buy those apps I’ll do my best to tell you why they or why they won or why they lost you know at 10 o’clock. No doubt. And we’ll keep uh track of all that as well. news9.com and newson6.com. Uh back to the schedule quickly. Uh we touched on this briefly yesterday and I we knew the Christmas Day game which was San Antonio, but the that’s actually a backtoback with well not a backto-back but two games in a row stretch with San Antonio because they’re in um San Antonio on the 23rd before they come back home and play them on the 25th. I like that of kind of setting the tone and I don’t know the expectations for the Spurs this year. I think if they were to somehow finish in the top seven or top six, I think you throw a another parade in San Antonio with a roster that’s been assembled. But, you know, they’re building for the future and they’re building the hype up with Wimi trying to find another young team that can try to compete with Oklahoma City in the West. I like kind of setting this up for the future, Steve. They’re they’re in good shape. You know, they had the second pick in the draft as well. So, but uh you know, they’re banking on De’aran Fox to be that guy. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out that great in Sacramento, but you know, I like Sacramento. I love the arena, but for whatever reason, you know, players struggle there from time to time. That’s why Sacramento is never really in the playoff picture. you know, it’s been a while since uh you know, Weber and Jason Williams are on there. You know, Jason and his fancy passes. So, um they played the Spurs, I think, four times in a span of 43 days. Yeah. So, that that’s pretty. But, you know, the NBA wants that Chad Victor matchup. Yes, they do. You know, players the players don’t necessarily like it. You know, it’s you know, Chad’s going to say the same thing over and over again. It’s Spurs Thunder, not Victor versus Jet. So, but but uh you know, it’s it’s going to draw eyeballs. You know, hopefully they’re both playing. They both had their injury issues. We don’t need to discuss that, but hopefully they are playing and they’ll be able to play against each other for those four games. So, it’s going to be great TV. Uh the Spurs are an up andcoming team, I think, but they’re still one, two years away from really being a major threat in the West. That’s just my opinion. in mid August. Could the first two games get any better? I mean, come on. Banner, you ring ceremony, you got KD in the house, and then you go on the road at Indiana, who you just beat in the finals. I don’t know if you could pick a better combination than the first two games. Pretty spectacular. And it’s Indiana’s home opener. So, that place is going to be And the Boobirds will be out. And that’s another The first two games are on national TV. Yeah. So that that’s right there. And then they that road trip finishes up at Dallas. And Dallas starts the year with five straight home games. Where do where do you sign up for that? Where do you get one of those at? So Oklahoma City will be a part of that fivegame home stand for the Dallas Mavericks. And then they played the Mavericks on the the fourth game of the year. Then this night they come home to to put to play the Kings. So, right right off the bat, the first five games where we got our first back to back of the season. And you know, Jeremy, I’m not a big fan of backtobacks, but uh at least that’s a close one going from Dallas to Oklahoma. Yeah, you don’t mind that one. What’s the one you were pointing out earlier in the super secret text message thread? Uh what was that? Sacramento to Memphis. Is that what it was? Oh, not a backto back though, but you know, might as well be for you. They’re in the they’re in the FA Cup last year in Las Vegas and then the G next game is in Orlando and then oh by the way they play in Orlando and then the very next night they play in Miami and the Thunder won both of those games on that trip but just getting from Las Vegas to Orlando. That was all day long. I think I think I got to the uh the hotel about 8:00 at night, got a salad or something. I’m like good night I’m out. So, but um the backtoback traveling back one time they had a backtoback Miami and then Oklahoma City the next night and they get away with that because it’s only one time zone. Okay. East coast central time. Yeah. You couldn’t get further away. But I did notice this was funny. There’s unwritten rule. The Thunder must finish up a road trip at the furthest point. And once again, that five-game road trip east coast in March, they finish up in Boston, the furthest point, and then they come back home. Of course. Of course. Well, have you got the uh suitcase now? It’s only probably what been in the closet or been in storage for just only a couple of weeks. But I mean, we’re inching closer now. It’ll be September before you know it and into preseason in October. Um, have you started to mark little special moments? Yeah. Where did six preseason games come from? It used to be four. I thought they loved four, but now we got six. So, I would expect Shay to maybe play in three of those games, especially after the season they’re coming off of. But, uh, they’re in demand. You know, they they open up the year in Charleston, South Carolina, and then the very next night they play in Fort Worth against the Mavericks. So, the Thunder are in demand. They only have two home preseason games. But yeah, the suitcase uh my old one uh I was down from I was eight wheels to seven and then in Salt Lake City I checked into the wrong Marriott in downtown Salt Lake. I’m like I’ll just roll roll it to three blocks to the other Marriott and I lost another wheel and right then and there I’m like, “Okay, we got to get a new suitcase. I can’t I can no longer I was carrying it, you know, with the backpack and the tripod, the camera. This looks stupid.” But uh you know my roller that I carry with me that the handle broke earlier this season. So it was time new and the roller is fairly new. So we’re good to go. Okay. So to your previous point and this will be the last one. You had mentioned earlier the the difference in temperature from some of the cities that you go to. So that means in one suitcase you might have a pair of flip-flops if you have a day off in between or a pair of shorts. But yet you also got to make sure that you’ve got the the winter parka as well if you’re going to a place that might be I don’t know 10° by the time that you get there. I will definitely that 4ame trip that’s all over the weather map warm and cold. I will definitely uh do laundry. Uh in fact I know the residents in in downtown Cleveland has a laundromat that has free detergent. So I will, you know, just more times than not I have to do some laundry on the road just because you just can’t cram it all in and sometimes I have equipment in my suitcase as well and you can’t be more than 50 pounds or they like triple charge you. I’m like I’m not not throwing away money with that. But um yeah, I will uh that that Houston game when I fly to Houston, I may be boarding the plane with my winter coat because there will be a winter coat, a big puffy winter coat, and that takes up way too much room in a suitcase. So, I may have to board that plane to Houston uh with a winter coat. There you go. Yeah, but true signs of a travel vet. You know which hotel has the free soap and laundry service? Like only a true professional would, Steve. I wouldn’t expect anything less out of you at all. It’s only two blocks from the arena in Cleveland. The Rocket What do we got? Rocket Mortgage Arena. Yeah, it’s only two blocks away. In fact, sometimes I have a room where I open up the blinds and there it is. So, I’m all That is closer. The closer I can get to an arena, the better off I’m going to be. Because if I rely on Uber or taxi, getting there is now in their hands, not my hands. Well, we’ll be there and you’ll be there before we know it with the season getting that much closer. And now finally, a full schedule for all of us to look at and decide which games that we’re going to go to and which games that maybe we need to have a few people over at the house to try to celebrate the Thunder on a season in which they will be defending their world championship. Steve, great stuff. Appreciate you always for coming on and uh breaking down the Thunder 2526 schedule. And thank all of you for tuning in as well here from the digital desk. Remember to like and subscribe. Check out all of our great work as well. News9.com and news on6.com. And we’ll see you next time from the digital desk on another Thunder Breakdown. Thank you for watching this Oklahoma’s own digital studio sports presentation. Stay with News9 online and on television anytime for the latest news, weather, and sports.
Reigning NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, have announced the team’s 2025-2026 schedule, and News 9’s Steve McGehee attends every. Single. Game.
Full schedule: http://bit.ly/3JBGk4T
Steve and Griffin Media Sports Director Jeremie Poplin break down the most daunting road trips of the upcoming season, anticipated matchups, and teams to watch.
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