Helena Frye
The 2025–26 NBA season is the upcoming 80th season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season is scheduled to begin in October 2025 and end in April 2026. The third edition of the in-season NBA Cup tournament is planned to be held in November and December 2025. The 2025 NBA Playoffs began on April 19, 2025, with the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament taking place from April 15-18. The 2025 NBA Finals will be broadcast exclusively on ABC and are scheduled to begin on June 5, 2025. Amazon Prime Video will stream up to 66 regular-season games, while ESPN+ will stream ABC's games and select ESPN games.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of players per team | 5 |
| Court shape | Rectangular |
| Diameter of a basketball | 9.4 inches (24 cm) |
| Diameter of a hoop | 18 inches (46 cm) |
| Height of a hoop from the ground | 10 feet (3.048 m) |
| Value of a field goal | 2 points |
| Value of a field goal made from behind the three-point line | 3 points |
| Value of a free throw | 1 point |
| Variations | 21 (American, cutthroat, roughhouse), One-on-one, Dunk Hoops, Unicycle basketball |
| Fantasy basketball platforms | ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Sleeper, Fantrax |
| Key dates for the 2024-25 NBA season | 3–21 July: France Basketball Olympic exhibition games, 6 July: NBA teams can start signing free agents, 22 October: start of the regular season, 26 October: NBA G League Draft, 2 November: NBA Mexico City Game 2024 |
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What You'll Learn
The 2024-25 NBA season
The following fixtures also took place during the opening week: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers; Milwaukee Bucks vs. Philadelphia 76ers; Phoenix Suns vs. LA Clippers; San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavericks; Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets; and Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks.
The NBA Cup, formerly known as the In-Season Tournament, also returned for this season, running from November 12 to December 3, with the championship final taking place on December 17. Tuesdays and Fridays featured group games, with six intraconference pools of five teams (three pools per conference). The winners of each pool and two wild-card teams advanced to a single-elimination tournament, with the semifinals and championship game played in Las Vegas.
The season also saw the continuation of ESPN's primary coverage of games on Wednesday and Friday nights, with additional games on other days as the schedule allows. ABC also aired NBA Saturday Primetime games on eight Saturdays between December and March and NBA Sunday Showcase games on five Sunday afternoons. Additionally, ESPN exclusively covered NBA games on Christmas Day, with simulcasts on ABC and ESPN for all five games.
The 2024-25 season also marked the first season that the Gotham Sports App, owned by MSG Networks and YES Network, became the exclusive streaming home of the Knicks and Nets, providing a new platform for fans to follow their favourite teams.
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The 2025 NBA Playoffs
The first round has seen some exciting matchups, with the Knicks and Timberwolves taking 3-1 series leads against the Pistons and Lakers, respectively. The Knicks won their first two games, with a final score of 123-112 in the first and a narrow 94-100 victory in the second. The Timberwolves also dominated their first game, winning 117-95, and then lost the second game 94-85, before winning the next two to take the lead in the series. The Celtics and Pacers have also performed well, both taking 3-1 leads over their opponents, the Magic and the Bucks, respectively.
The Nuggets and Clippers series is currently tied at 2-2, with the Clippers winning the second game 105-102 and the fourth game 110-102 in overtime. The first and third games went to the Nuggets, with scores of 112-110 and 118-99, respectively. The Cavaliers have taken a 3-1 lead over the Heat, winning the first two games 121-100 and 121-112, before losing the third 109-112 and then winning the fourth 121-100. The Warriors and Rockets series is also at 3-1, with the Warriors winning the first, second, and fourth games, and the Rockets taking the third game 109-94.
The first round is coming to a close, with several Game 5s taking place on Tuesday, April 29, and Game 6 and Game 7 matchups to follow. The NBA Playoffs are an exciting time, with intense competition and unpredictable outcomes. As the competition progresses, we will see which teams have what it takes to advance to the later rounds and ultimately compete for the championship title.
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The 2025-26 NBA season
The 2025-26 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is set to be an exciting one, marking the league's 80th season. The regular season will tip off in October 2025 and conclude in April 2026, with plenty of action and drama in between. The third instalment of the in-season NBA Cup tournament will take place in November and December, with Amazon Prime Video streaming the entire knockout round. This season will also see the return of NBC to NBA broadcasting, with Tuesday night doubleheaders and a package of Sunday night games.
The NBA's media deals will see some changes this season. It will be the first year of new 11-year deals with the ESPN family of networks, NBC Sports, and Amazon Prime Video. NBC will replace TNT Sports, returning to televising the NBA for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Amazon Prime Video will also make its mark by signing its first US national contract with the league. ESPN will continue to air Wednesday night games throughout the regular season, with a reduced Friday schedule.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for 15 February 2026 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The NBA Saturday Primetime and NBA Sunday Showcase will continue on ABC, with selected games between February and March. ABC/ESPN will also air the NBA Christmas games and the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. The play-in tournament will take place in April 2026, followed by the highly anticipated playoffs and the NBA Finals in June.
The Phoenix Suns will be starting the season with a new head coach after firing Mike Budenholzer in April 2025, just one season into his tenure. The Wells Fargo Center, home of the Philadelphia 76ers, will also undergo a name change before the season as Wells Fargo declined to renew its naming rights deal.
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The NBA Finals
The 2023 NBA Finals, for example, featured the Miami Heat, the Eastern Conference champion, and the Denver Nuggets, the Western Conference champion. The series started on June 1 and concluded on June 12, with the Nuggets defeating the Heat in five games to win their first championship in franchise history.
The dates of the NBA Finals vary each year, but they typically take place in late May or early June. The 2025 NBA Finals, for instance, are scheduled to begin on June 5. The exact dates of the NBA Finals are determined based on the outcome of the previous rounds of the playoffs, as the NBA Finals mark the conclusion of the NBA season.
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The NBA Draft
In the lottery system, the league uses a "lottery-style ping-pong ball machine with 14 balls numbered 1–14, and 1,000 four-digit combinations are assigned to the 14 lottery teams." The NBA Draft Lottery ensures that the team with the worst record will receive no worse than the fifth pick. The top four picks in the NBA Draft are determined by the NBA Draft Lottery.
The NBA goes to great lengths to keep the selection process fair and untampered with. The actual lottery procedure takes place in a separate room just before the national broadcast on ESPN. Select media members, NBA officials, representatives of the participating teams, and the accounting firm of Ernst & Young are in attendance for the drawing. Attendees are not allowed cell phones or any other electronic devices until the number one pick is revealed on the television broadcast.
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Frequently asked questions
Sky Sports will distribute all of NBCUniversal’s NBA and WNBA games from the 2025-26 season.
The 2022-23 basketball season ended in October 2023.
Basketball has been a sport at the Summer Olympics since 1936 for men and since 1976 for women. It will next feature at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announcements are made in October.
