The Athletic has live coverage of Rockets vs. Thunder and Warriors vs. Lakers from 2025-26 NBA Season Tip-Off.
The 2025-26 NBA season uncorks with a new broadcaster, a familiar refrain and a ripper of a Tuesday night doubleheader. Kevin Durant debuts for the Houston Rockets, and he visits his former Oklahoma City Thunder as they coronate a championship. The follow-up pairs the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers in a meeting of megastars.
Basketball’s annual tipoff showcase is straightforward: cool things happen from long distances, giant humans glide through hot air, everyone yells about it. But this year will look marginally different because NBC is carrying NBA games for the first time since 2002. Tuesday’s two matchups are on the main TV network as well as its subscription streamer, Peacock.
Here’s what to know and how to watch. Season’s hoopings, or something.
NBA Opening Night viewing guide
Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.
GameTime (ET)TVStream
Rockets at Thunder
7:30 p.m.
NBC
Warriors at Lakers
10 p.m.
NBC
NBC is available free over the air. Tuesday’s broadcasts are simulcast on Peacock.
The NBA-NBC partnership
NBC last aired NBA games in a dozen-year stretch between 1990 and 2002. That was a really, really chill time to have NBA television rights: It aligned with the religious experience that was Michael Jordan, and it cemented Marv Albert and Bob Costas as broadcasting legends.
That ’90s run gave us “Roundball Rock,” the theme music that inspired rap hits and “SNL” bits. It also had “NBA Showtime,” stylish pregame programming with Ahmad Rashad and Hannah Storm.
The new agreement between the league and network is an 11-year deal through the 2035-36 season. Between the main channel and Peacock, NBCUniversal will have dibs on up to 100 regular-season games per year. NBC/Peacock is also home to the MLK Day slate and All-Star Weekend. And because everything about TV rights has to be complicated, NBC will get one conference finals series in six of these 11 years, trading off with Prime Video (ABC/ESPN gets the other conference finals in 10 of the 11 years).
In general, Mondays are the Peacock-exclusive games, and NBC will air “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” doubleheaders. Starting next week, most Tuesdays will have an 8 p.m ET tipoff for viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT tipoff for those in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Both games can be streamed on Peacock. On Feb. 1, NBC will add “Sunday Night Basketball” to its prime-time lineup.
New announcers and studio analysts
Mike Tirico, the voice of “Sunday Night Football,” is doing play-by-play for the Rockets-Thunder early game. His broadcast teammates have limitless 3-point range — Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford are two all-time perimeter poppers, and each encapsulates an era of NBA two-guard play. Zora Stephenson is the sideline reporter in OKC.
The late game in L.A. will be called by Noah Eagle, a rising star on the mic and son of NBA fixture Ian Eagle. Hall of Famer Grant Hill joins him for analysis, while Ashley ShahAhmadi dispatches from the floor.
NBC’s refurbished studio show will feature three generational buckets in Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. Of note, the halftime slot for Rockets-Thunder has a first segment of Michael Jordan’s “MJ: Insights to Excellence.” It’s a pre-taped interview with Tirico, and the conversation will be released in parts throughout 2025-26.
Rockets at Thunder
Kevin Durant visits the franchise that drafted him … during its ring ceremony and banner raising. KD is a stoic, like Crates of Thebes if he had a jumper, but it should still be a bit tense with so much fanfare. The rebuilt Rockets are rolling with one of the largest starting lineups in NBA history: Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Şengün and Steven Adams are all listed at 6-foot-11, while guard Amen Thompson is the shortest at 6-foot-7. Last season’s Thunder won the NBA Finals off the strength of a league-best net rating, a soul-shattering defense and an omnipresent Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. The reigning MVP is rocking a special jersey patch on Tuesday night.
Houston opens at No. 10 in The Athletic’s preseason power rankings:
“The Rockets are a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty team. Half full: They were the No. 2 seed in the West! Half empty: They won 52 games, 16 fewer than the No. 1 seed and four more than the No. 8 seed. Half full: they pushed the Warriors to a Game 7! Half empty: They went out sad on their home floor and were down 3-1. Half full: Kevin Durant is here! Half empty: Durant is 37, and you don’t trust anyone else on this team with a pull-up outside of the paint.” — Law Murray
OKC is No. 1, of course:
“I wanted to find every reason I could to not pick the artists formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics. The easiest reason is something you will hear all season: No NBA champion has repeated since 2018. There have been seven different teams to win the championship over the last seven seasons. Unlike four of the previous five champions, the Thunder showed postseason mortality, needing to win Game 7s against two 50-win teams.” — Murray
Warriors at Lakers
No LeBron James (sciatica) for the Lake Show, but Luka Dončić has the presence and pull to lead this league’s glamour franchise. During the summer, Dončić signed a three-year extension to stay in Los Angeles and dropped weight to maximize his second act. Elsewhere, the Lakers turn to Deandre Ayton for starting center minutes, and JJ Redick faces an industrial-grade spotlight in his second season on the bench. Golden State has similar playoff expectations, with an even more compressed timeline given the ages of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. Jonathan Kuminga is amped up after re-signing with the Warriors last week.
Golden State’s outlook from The Bounce: “We saw how great the Warriors were in the regular season with Jimmy Butler. I’d expect a lot of that again, although injuries could slow things down. They should lock up a top-six spot in the West if healthy, and then we’ll see.” — Zach Harper
Los Angeles’ expectations: “I don’t see why the Lakers can’t win 50 games again and put themselves firmly in the top six for the playoffs. From there, they have to get the correct matchup to even get out of the first round.” — Harper
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