The two postponed games are the Spurs/Lakers contest from Saturday, January 11 that wasn’t played due to the Los Angeles wildfires and a Jan. 22 matchup between the Bucks and Pelicans that was postponed due to severe winter weather in New Orleans. According to the league, the new dates for those games are as follows:

• San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers: Monday, March 17.
• Milwaukee Bucks at New Orleans Pelicans: Sunday, April 6.

The NBA also announced the following seven schedule changes to accommodate the rescheduled games:

• Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic: Moved from March 12 to March 6.
• Orlando Magic at San Antonio Spurs: Moved from March 17 to April 1.
• Milwaukee Bucks at Los Angeles Lakers; Moved from March 18 to March 20.
• Toronto Raptors at Golden State Warriors: Moved from March 19 to March 20.
• Milwaukee Bucks at Golden State Warriors: Moved from March 20 to March 18.
• Orlando Magic at New Orleans Pelicans: Moved from April 6 to March 13.
• New Orleans Pelicans at Milwaukee Bucks: Moved from April 9 to April 10.

In addition to the four teams affected by the original postponements, the Bulls, Magic, Raptors, and Warriors also had games affected as a result of today’s announcement.

It’s the second time this month that the league has made a series of changes to its schedule to accommodate postponed games — the NBA announced on January 15 that nine games had been rescheduled.

There are no more postponed games still requiring new dates, so if no additional postponements take place for the rest of this season, this should be the last schedule adjustment the league needs to make.

The league intends to announce a new date for the game at a later time.

New Orleans has received a rare winter storm this week, with snow blanketing the city and icy conditions affecting travel in the area.

Chris Haynes, who first reported (via Twitter) that the game between the Bucks and Pelicans would be postponed, notes that there’s concern about whether the Bucks will be able to depart New Orleans in time to get home to host the Heat on Thursday (Twitter link). The Pelicans’ next game is scheduled for Friday in Memphis.

The NBA had to postpone a handful of games earlier this month due to the wildfires in Los Angeles and extreme weather in Atlanta. Most of the new dates for those contests were announced last Wednesday, but the league has yet to confirm a rescheduled date for a Spurs/Lakers game that was postponed.

That game and this Bucks/Pelicans matchup will likely be among the next set of rescheduled contests announced by the NBA.

The Hornets/Lakers game that was supposed to be played last Thursday will take place at Crypto.com Arena on February 19, while the Hornets/Clippers game that had been scheduled for last Saturday has been moved to March 16.

Additionally, last Saturday’s Rockets/Hawks that was postponed due to the weather in Atlanta will now be played on January 28 at State Farm Arena.

There’s still no new date for last Saturday’s Spurs/Lakers game, with the NBA indicating that a make-up date for that contest will be announced at a later time.

In order to accommodate the rescheduled games, the NBA has also announced the following tweaks to the schedule:

• The Bulls/Clippers game scheduled for January 21 in L.A. has been moved up to Jan. 20.
• The Wizards/Jazz game scheduled for Jan. 23 in Utah has been moved back to March 19.
• The Jazz/Lakers game scheduled for Feb. 11 in L.A. has been moved up to Feb. 10.
• The Wizards/Clippers game scheduled for March 16 in L.A. has been moved up to Jan. 23.
• The Wizards/Trail Blazers game scheduled for March 18 in Portland has been moved up to March 17.
• The Clippers/Jazz game scheduled for March 19 in Utah has been moved up to Feb. 13.

Despite not being involved in any of last week’s postponed matchups, the Jazz and Wizards will each have three games moved around in order to help minimize back-to-backs and reduce travel.

It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Utah and Washington are among the NBA’s cellar dwellers — the league likely wanted to avoid making schedule changes that would significantly impact teams involved in playoff races.

According to the release, the decision was made in consultation with local officials amid severe weather and hazardous icy conditions in the Atlanta area. The new game date will be decided at a later time.

This marks the league’s third postponement announcement in as many days, though the other affected games are due to the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

The Rockets are next scheduled to return home to play the Grizzlies on Monday while the Hawks don’t play again until Tuesday in Atlanta.

The Hawks have announced (via Twitter) that original parking and tickets would remain valid for entry for the new date, whenever that ends up being.

The Spurs had been scheduled to face the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, while the Hornets were supposed to make their first visit to the Intuit Dome to face the Clippers. Dates for the rescheduled games will be announced at a later time, according to the league.

The NBA and its two Los Angeles teams have been communicating with local officials in L.A. and Inglewood, the league said in its statement, adding that postponing the games will ensure no resources are diverted from the wildfire response efforts.

The NBA also said that the league and the players’ union are donating $1MM in support of those affected by the L.A. wildfires, with that money going to the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, and other organizations.

Both the Lakers and Clippers are also scheduled to play home games on Monday, with the Lakers hosting the Spurs (again) and the Clippers scheduled to play the Heat. Those matchups are up in the air for now, though Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears that the Clippers expect to play their game vs. Miami.

Saturday’s game is the second postponement for both the Lakers and Hornets, who had been scheduled to face one another on Thursday.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick fought back tears during a media session on Friday discussing the impact of the fires on his community and the loss of his family’s home, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“I was not prepared for what I saw,” Redick said. “It’s complete devastation and destruction. I had to go a kind of a different way to the house, but I went through most of the [Palisades] Village and it’s all gone. And I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that. Our home, our home is gone.

“… The Palisades community has really just been so good to us. I think that’s the part for us that we’re really struggling with is just the loss of community. And I recognize that people make up community, and we’re going to rebuild, and we want to help lead on that. But all the churches, the schools, the library, like, it’s all gone.”

Redick spoke to reporters about some of the irreplaceable personal and family items that were lost, but stressed that he’s more concerned about those affected by the fires who will have a harder time dealing with the aftermath.

“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me and my family,” Redick said. “We’re going to be alright. There are people that, because of some political issues and some insurance issues, are not going to be alright. And we’re going to do everything we can to help anybody who is down and out because of this.”

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, who first reported the news of the postponement, several members of the Lakers organization have been impacted by the fires, including head coach JJ Redick, who lost his home (Twitter links). Redick said on Tuesday night that his immediate family and members of his extended family had to evacuate their homes in the Pacific Palisades area.

“We’re heartbroken for Los Angeles,” the Lakers said in a statement (Twitter link). “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by this unimaginable situation. And our gratitude is with the first responders and all of you who come together when we need each other most. … We’re with you, L.A.”

In a follow-up tweet, the Lakers told fans with tickets for the game to keep them, as the team will honor the tickets for the rescheduled date.

The Lakers’ and Clippers’ next games are at home on Saturday evening. The league will likely wait and see what happens with the devastating fires over the next few days before determining whether further postponements are required.

In unrelated news, the start of tonight’s game between the Trail Blazers and Mavericks has been moved up an hour (to 6:30pm CT) due to inclement weather in Dallas, per the NBA (Twitter link).

Both games will be played on Saturday, December 14, and the matchups and tip-off times are as follows, per the league (Twitter link):

• Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks (3:30 pm Central time)
• Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (7:30 pm CT)

Both games will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the winners squaring off in the NBA Cup final on Tuesday.

Players on the team that win the NBA Cup will be awarded $514,970 apiece in prize money, while bonuses for the runner-up team will be worth $205,988 apiece and the semifinal losers will receive $102,994 each. In each instance, the bonuses for players on two-way contracts will be worth half that amount.

Players on the Knicks, Magic, Warriors, and Mavericks will receive bonuses of $51,497 apiece ($25,749 for two-way players) after being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Those four teams have also had an extra game added to their regular season schedules to ensure they get the necessary 82. Those games will be played on Sunday, Dec. 15 and are as follows:

• New York Knicks at Orlando Magic (5:00 pm CT)
• Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors (7:30 pm CT)

Since both Dallas and Golden State played on the road in the NBA Cup knockout round, the Mavericks will be the unlucky team that ends up with 42 road games and 40 home games on its schedule this season, since they were the lower-seeded quarterfinalist. The Magic played on the road in the quarterfinals, while the Knicks lost at home, so the home/road schedules for the Eastern clubs will be evenly balanced.

After the Warriors, Rockets, and Hawks previously clinched spots in the knockout round, the Thunder, Mavericks, Bucks, Knicks, and Magic joined them as a result of Tuesday’s outcomes. The quarterfinal matchups are as follows, per the NBA (Twitter links):

Eastern Conference:

• Orlando Magic (No. 4) at Milwaukee Bucks (No. 1): Tuesday, December 10 (7 pm ET)
• Atlanta Hawks (No. 3) at New York Knicks (No. 2): Wednesday, December 11 (7 pm ET)

Western Conference:

• Dallas Mavericks (No. 4) at Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 1): Tuesday, December 10 (9:30 pm ET)
• Golden State Warriors (No. 3) at Houston Rockets (No. 2): Wednesday, December 11 (9:30 pm ET)

While those four games will be played in the home team’s arena, the winners will advance to a neutral site for the final four. The semifinals (Dec. 14) and final (Dec. 17) will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

[RELATED: Details On NBA Cup Prize Money For 2024]

The quarterfinal and semifinal results will count toward each team’s regular season record, whereas the final won’t. A team that loses in the quarterfinals will play the other quarterfinal loser in its conference in newly scheduled regular season games to make sure those clubs get the full 82.

Meanwhile, the 22 teams who did not advance to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup have each had two regular season games added to their initial 80 to fill that mid-December gap on their schedules.

Here are the newly added games for those clubs, according to the league (Twitter link):

Thursday, December 12:

• Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics (7:30 pm ET)
• Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat (7:30 pm ET)
• Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans (8 pm ET)

Friday, December 13:

• Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers (7 pm ET)
• Indiana Pacers at Philadelphia 76ers (7 pm ET)
• Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves (8 pm ET)
• Brooklyn Nets at Memphis Grizzlies (8 pm ET)
• Charlotte Hornets at Chicago Bulls (8 pm ET)
• Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets (9 pm ET)
• Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz (9:30 pm ET)
• San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers (10 pm ET)

Sunday, December 15:

• New Orleans Pelicans at Indiana Pacers (5 pm ET)
• Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards (6 pm ET)
• Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs (7 pm ET)
• Portland Trail Blazers at Phoenix Suns (8 pm ET)
• Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Lakers (9:30 pm ET)

Monday, December 16:

• Philadelphia 76ers at Charlotte Hornets (7 pm ET)
• Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons (7 pm ET)
• Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors (7:30 pm ET)
• Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets (7:30 pm ET)
• Denver Nuggets at Sacramento Kings (10 pm ET)
• Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Clippers (10:30 pm ET)

On Friday, the Pistons defeated the Pacers 130-106 in an NBA Cup game. With that win, the Pistons improved to 3-0 in East Group B, tied by record with the Bucks. Milwaukee’s +29 point differential in its three wins is only marginally better than Detroit’s +28 as the two teams prepare to match up on Tuesday.

The Pistons subsequently had to travel to Philadelphia, where they fell in a blowout to the lowly Sixers on Saturday. Citing travel issues and the challenge of playing a back-to-back set that includes an NBA Cup contest, Bickerstaff said his squad was worn out for Saturday’s game.

“I mean, our guys were exhausted,” Bickerstaff said following the Philadelphia defeat. “We sat on the runway last night until 2:30, 3:00 in the morning. Got home at 4:00 in the morning in the snowstorm. They drove home, by the time they got to bed it was 5:00 a.m, 5:30 a.m. I thought they went out and they dug down… They tried to give it what they had. We just didn’t have it tonight, and that’s fair. They tried but today was just a rough day for them.”

Later during his post-game remarks, Bickerstaff advocated for the league to make some tweaks to its NBA Cup scheduling, specifically in regard to how it doles out back-to-back sets of games if one is part of the in-season tournament.

“I’ll scream it to the rooftops, and I hope people will pay attention and they’ll listen,” Bickerstaff said. “I think the league has done a wonderful thing by adding the Cup series. Obviously, as time goes on, there will be adjustments that are made to it, but you should not play a back-to-back after one of those games. The guys are competing their tails off to go out and win at a high level, and it’s just extremely difficult to come back the next night and have to play a back-to-back to follow it up.

“Hopefully, it’s something that they’ll look at. I’m not a scheduling expert by any means. I just think it’s extremely difficult for guys to go out and compete at that intensity that we’re asking them to.”

Patterson notes as a caveat that Detroit has gone 1-4 on the second night of back-to-backs this year, regardless of whether or not an NBA Cup game was part of the set.

Fitts has appeared in 18 NBA games, most recently in eight contests with Boston during the 2021/22 campaign when he was signed to two 10-day contracts. Gilyard appeared in a combined 41 NBA games with the Grizzlies and Nets last season. He was on a two-way deal with Brooklyn after Memphis waived him.

We have more from around the basketball world:

• It’s impossible to keep all the NBA teams happy and give them their desired dates on an 82-game schedule. Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic spoke to an unnamed source who detailed the issues confronting the schedule makers. “You’ve got 30 different teams each with their own perspective on what they would like to see and within each of the 30 teams, you’ve got multiple perspectives from what makes the most sense,” the source said. “The league is then responsible for taking all of the different perspectives and try to make something that’s going to please everyone, which inherently is an impossible task.”
• How would projected 2025 top pick Cooper Flagg impact a team in rebuild mode? Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report dives into that topic, exploring how the Duke freshman big man would fit in with the Nets, Hornets, Pistons, Trail Blazers, Spurs, Raptors, Jazz and Wizards.
• Nathan Peavy, David Noel III and Alex Ruoff have been announced as assistant coaches on DJ Bakker‘s staff with the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets‘ affiliate, the G League team announced in a press release. Peavy joins the Swarm after serving last season as the head coach of the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league, Puerto Rico’s top professional division. Noel spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach for the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ affiliate. Ruoff was on West Virginia’s coaching staff the last two seasons.

As usual, the regular season won’t begin until after Christmas, with the league holding a separate event in the fall leading up to its Winter Showcase in December. In the past, this 16-game fall event has been known as the Showcase Cup. It has been rebranded this year as the Tip-Off Tournament.

The Tip-Off Tournament, which begins on Friday, November 8, will see the league’s teams split into four regions. Each team will play 14 games and the four clubs with the best winning percentage in each region, along with the next four best teams from any region, will advance to the single-elimination championship tournament at the Winter Showcase in Orlando from December 19-22.

The G League’s regular season will consist of 34 games and will run from Friday, Dec. 27 to Saturday, March 29. The top six teams from each conference will make the postseason and compete in the G League playoffs in the spring.

There will be 31 teams in the NBAGL for the upcoming season, matching last season’s record. However, with the debut of the expansion Valley Suns, this will be the first season in which all 30 NBA franchises have their own G League affiliates. Following the folding of the G League Ignite, the only unaffiliated club left in the league is the Mexico City Capitanes.

While Phoenix’s G League team is the only new addition to the league, the Clippers‘ affiliate has relocated and rebranded ahead of the 2024/25 season. Formerly known as the Ontario Clippers, the club is now the San Diego Clippers and will play its home games at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, rather than the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif.

Here’s the full list of G League teams for the 2024/25 season:

1. Atlanta Hawks: College Park Skyhawks
2. Boston Celtics: Maine Celtics
   
3. Brooklyn Nets: Long Island Nets
4. Charlotte Hornets: Greensboro Swarm
5. Chicago Bulls: Windy City Bulls
6. Cleveland Cavaliers: Cleveland Charge
   
7. Dallas Mavericks: Texas Legends
8. Denver Nuggets: Grand Rapids Gold
9. Detroit Pistons: Motor City Cruise
10. Golden State Warriors: Santa Cruz Warriors
11. Houston Rockets: Rio Grande Valley Vipers
12. Indiana Pacers: Indiana Mad Ants
13. Los Angeles Clippers: San Diego Clippers
14. Los Angeles Lakers: South Bay Lakers
15. Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis Hustle
16. Miami Heat: Sioux Falls Skyforce
17. Milwaukee Bucks: Wisconsin Herd
18. Minnesota Timberwolves: Iowa Wolves
19. New Orleans Pelicans: Birmingham Squadron
20. New York Knicks: Westchester Knicks
21. Oklahoma City Thunder: Oklahoma City Blue
22. Orlando Magic: Osceola Magic
23. Philadelphia 76ers: Delaware Blue Coats
24. Phoenix Suns: Valley Suns
25. Portland Trail Blazers: Rip City Remix
26. Sacramento Kings: Stockton Kings
27. San Antonio Spurs: Austin Spurs
28. Toronto Raptors: Raptors 905
29. Utah Jazz: Salt Lake City Stars
30. Washington Wizards: Capital City Go-Go
31. No NBA affiliation: Mexico City Capitanes

The league’s annual holiday showcase will start at noon Eastern Time and will feature five games stretching over more than 12 hours. Anyone who wants to spend part of the day with LeBron James, Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant will be delighted, although there seem to be a few glaring omissions, both among players and teams.

The day will tip off at Madison Square Garden with the Knicks hosting the Spurs. New York is an automatic selection for Christmas any time the team is half decent, and this year’s version looks like a title contender. After excelling in the Olympic spotlight, Victor Wembanyama will get his first Christmas game in the “world’s most famous arena.”

The action continues with the Timberwolves, making a rare Christmas Day appearance, traveling to Dallas to take on the defending Western Conference champion Mavericks. This rematch of the conference finals features two of the NBA’s top stars in Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic and could be important in the race for the best record in the West.

Next up, the Sixers and Celtics will renew their rivalry in Boston in a battle of two of the best teams in the East. Philadelphia added Paul George as part of an offseason roster overhaul and should be a legitimate challenger for the defending champs, who may not have Kristaps Porzingis available by December 25 following offseason surgery.

The Warriors will host the Lakers in the prime-time matchup, with James and Curry meeting for the first time since their Olympic heroics. Although these are still two of the league’s glamour teams and should draw a good rating, they combined for just one playoff win last season.

The day will end with the Suns hosting the Nuggets in the late game. Durant and Nikola Jokic were also outstanding at the Olympics, and Phoenix and Denver should both be in the midst of the Western Conference playoff race.

Even with an entertaining slate of games, there are many fans and players who feel left out. Being on the Christmas Day schedule is considered a sign of respect around the league, so it’s almost an insult to be overlooked.

The Thunder are the most obvious omission after finishing as the No. 1 seed in the West last season. Oklahoma City has the MVP runner-up in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, along with a talented young roster that looks ready to contend for years to come. OKC also upgraded during the offseason by trading for Alex Caruso and signing free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Bucks are typically a Christmas Day fixture, but they got passed over after losing in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard remain two of the league’s top stars and a strong argument can be made that Milwaukee should have been included.

The Pacers, who reached the conference finals and the in-season tournament finals, are an exciting young team in the East, as are the Cavaliers and Magic. Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell and Paolo Banchero would all be worthy of Christmas games.

In the West, Zion Williamson and the Pelicans, Ja Morant and the Grizzlies and James Harden and Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers should also be in the conversation.

We want to get your opinion. What was the biggest snub on the Christmas Day schedule? Please leave your response in comments section.

Zach Harper of The Athletic, Chris Mannix of SI.com, and ESPN did just that, with Harper highlighting 35 games he’s looking forward to, Mannix naming 10 games to watch, and ESPN identifying 23 games not to miss.

Unsurprisingly, the Knicks/Celtics regular season opener (October 22), Paul George‘s return to Los Angeles with the Sixers (November 6), and Klay Thompson‘s return to Golden State with the Mavericks (Nov. 12) made all three lists.

The other two matchups that showed up on all three lists? Wizards at Hawks on Oct. 28 in the first regular season matchup between this year’s top two draft picks (Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr) and Spurs at Thunder on Oct. 30 in this season’s first Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren showdown.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

• A total of seven NBA teams operated under the cap and used room to make moves this offseason. As Keith Smith of Spotrac writes, those clubs used their cap space in very different ways, with some – like the Sixers and Thunder – making splashes in free agency, some (such as the Hornets) focusing on taking in salary in trades, and one (the Jazz) using most of its room to renegotiate a star player’s contract.
• Which NBA teams have been the “cheapest” in recent years and which have been most willing to spend? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that questions, ranking each team by its spending from 2017-24 and considering whether clubs should have been willing to invest more on those rosters. The Warriors, Clippers, and Bucks have been the biggest spenders over the last seven years, while the Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets are at the other end of the list.
• In a three-part series for The Athletic, David Aldridge ranks all 30 NBA clubs based on how much they improved their rosters with their offseason moves. Aldridge’s list, which is sorted by which teams improved most in the short term rather than which clubs made the “best” moves, features the Thunder, Sixers, and Magic at the top. Not coincidentally, those clubs made three of the summer’s biggest free agent signings, adding Isaiah Hartenstein, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively.

The season will begin on Tuesday, October 22 and wrap up Sunday, April 13. The play-in tournament will take place from April 15-18, with the playoffs beginning on April 19.

The league’s announcement highlighted the fact that each team is only scheduled for 80 games at this point. That’s due to the in-season tournament, now known as the NBA Cup, whose schedule was previously revealed.

The league also confirmed several previously reported marquee matchups, including its five-game Christmas Day slate, an opening night doubleheader of Knicks at Celtics and Timberwolves at Lakers, and games taking place in Mexico City and Paris.

Listed below are links to the full 2024/25 season schedules for each NBA team, organized by conference and division. The team-by-team schedules for ’24/25 can also be viewed in a single document right here, while the full schedule by date can be viewed here.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

• Boston Celtics
• Brooklyn Nets
• New York Knicks
• Philadelphia 76ers
• Toronto Raptors

Central Division

• Chicago Bulls
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Detroit Pistons
• Indiana Pacers
• Milwaukee Bucks

Southeast Division

• Atlanta Hawks
• Charlotte Hornets
• Miami Heat
• Orlando Magic
• Washington Wizards

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Northwest Division

• Denver Nuggets
• Minnesota Timberwolves
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• Portland Trail Blazers
• Utah Jazz

Pacific Division

• Golden State Warriors
• Los Angeles Clippers
• Los Angeles Lakers
• Phoenix Suns
• Sacramento Kings

Southwest Division

• Dallas Mavericks
• Houston Rockets
• Memphis Grizzlies
• New Orleans Pelicans
• San Antonio Spurs

“No, because we do our jobs,” he said. “Our job is to talk (about) the game and give insight and also give you insight about what’s going on behind the scenes with TNT. Like, ‘Hey, we’re not happy.’ That’s part of what makes us different. I don’t think any other network would allow or want their talent to talk about things like that. We’re going to do it, no matter what happens.

“But again, we’ve had a great run. If it continues, it’ll be great. But also, there are massive opportunities for the four of us — again, to create ownership opportunities to make sure our directors, producers, makeup, stats and audio people are still part of one of the greatest shows in sports TV history.”

Smith views the possible end of the network’s affiliation with the NBA as an opportunity for the show to reach out into other areas. He compares it to what Adam Sandler or Peyton and Eli Manning are doing with their companies, providing a chance to create a new brand in sports television.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

• More details on the 2024/25 NBA schedule continue to leak out ahead of the official announcement at 3:00 pm ET on Thursday. The Nuggets will host the Thunder on October 24 in the season opener for both teams, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It will be a matchup of the top two seeds in the West last season. After facing the Clippers October 23 in the first game at the new Inuit Dome, the Suns will stay in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers October 25 before hosting the Mavericks in their home opener a night later, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The Kings will have two six-game road trips during the season, sources tell James Ham of Kings Beat (Twitter link). One in January will have them face the Nuggets, Knicks, Nets, Sixers, Thunder and Timberwolves, and another from March 29 to April 7 will feature games against the Magic, Pacers, Wizards, Hornets, Cavaliers and Pistons.
• Former NBA players Charlie Brown Jr. and Deonte Burton will be among the players representing the G League United in a pair of September exhibition games, the league announced (Twitter links).
• Duke and Rutgers will be the top destinations for NBA scouts when the college basketball season begins, observes Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. The Blue Devils have the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, Cooper Flagg, along with Khaman Maluach, a probable lottery selection who played for South Sudan in the Olympics. The Scarlet Knights’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are also in contention for the top spot in next year’s draft.