Reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will take on Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on NBC to tip off the NBA season on Oct. 21, NBC Sports and the NBA announced Tuesday.
The matchup between the Thunder and Rockets will be followed up by the latest chapter in the rivalry between LeBron James and Stephen Curry, as the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors also face off on opening night.
The two games will not only mark the beginning of a new season, they will also be the first NBA games to air on NBC since the 2002 finals.
Mike Tirico, Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford and Zora Stephenson will call the game between Oklahoma City and Houston, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Noah Eagle, Grant Hill and Ashley ShahAhmadi will call the second game from Los Angeles, which, in addition to James and Curry, will feature Luka Doncic and Jimmy Butler.
The season will begin with a matchup of teams expected to be two of the best in the West.
The Thunder, who have finished first in the conference in back-to-back seasons, are returning the majority of the team that won the 2025 finals in seven games. The Rockets, meanwhile, added a future Hall of Famer in Durant to a young core that includes center Alperen Sengun and wingman Amen Thompson.
The nightcap will feature foes-turned-friends in James and Curry, who played each other in four straight championship series from 2015 to 2018, then teamed up at the Paris Olympics in 2024 to capture gold for the United States. Doncic and Butler will be joining the fray, as both will be starting their first full seasons with their respective teams.
Shortly after the “NBA Tip-Off” games, “Peacock NBA Monday” will debut on Oct. 27 with its own doubleheader starting at 7 p.m. ET. The first game that night will feature the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons, while Western Conference rivals the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets will battle after.
NBC Sports and the NBA also announced the first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day quadrupleheader, which will take place on Jan. 19, 2026, across NBC and Peacock.