NBA changes schedule for nationally televised prime-time games

The NBA schedule for the 2024-25 season was officially released Thursday, featuring games on multiple platforms, including one that will lose rights to the games once the season concludes. To no one's surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers lead the way with 33 nationally televised appearances next season, meaning 40 percent of the team's games will be nationally syndicated.

Currently, 11 LeBron James and the Lakers games are broadcast on TNT, 12 on NBA TV, and 10 more on ABC and ESPN. But that number comes with an important caveat and meaning. The NBA, which has had to deal with too many cases of “load management” in the past, has introduced something new to the schedule, especially for prime-time games.

According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, NBA teams will not play the day before or after “high-profile national TV games” this season. This seems to be the league's best option to prevent James or Anthony Davis from missing a high-profile regular-season game against the Golden State Warriors or Denver Nuggets. But this doesn't just apply to the Lakers.

The NBA schedule is here. Some information:

– Average number of back-to-backs: 14.9. More than last year, 23% less than ten years ago.

– No 4-in-5 nights, no 8-in-12 nights, no 18-in-30 nights.

– This season, teams will not play the day before or after “high-profile, nationally televised games.”

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) 15 August 2024

This type of scheduling also takes other stars into account. We've seen Joel Embiid, who, let's be honest, is dealing with numerous lingering injuries, kept out of the primetime nationally televised games against Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets. This at least provides some buffer and a larger floor to prevent instances where a nationally televised game is played without some of the game's biggest stars.

While this new scheduling policy is a step in the right direction, the NBA still faces an uphill battle to ensure fans can see their favorite superstars on national television on a regular basis. We'll likely need a full season's worth of results to decide if this is a sustainable solution to one of the league's biggest problems.

[Tim Reynolds]