NBA on TNT is kicking off the season with a bang as they release their final slate of games. The excitement begins with the New York Knicks taking on the Boston Celtics, followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves facing off against the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night. Tune in to TNT for the full NBA schedule release on Thursday and catch all the action as TNT starts the season with a thrilling lineup of games.
TNT will also broadcast San Antonio Spurs at the Dallas Mavericks — an early battle of the Europeans with Victor Wembanyama vs. Luka Dončić — and an MVP finalist battle with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City Thunder taking on Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets. In all, TNT holds the rights to four of the 11 NBA games during the first week of the season.
SAVE THE DATE!
The 2024-25 regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 22. #KiaTipOff24
Check out the National TV Schedule for opening week pic.twitter.com/sBhHJiECq6
— NBA (@NBA) August 15, 2024
This season is likely to be the last for NBA on TNT: As of now, TNT has been cut out of the new NBA media deal, ending the company's 35-year run of NBA coverage.
The NBA announced its new media right deal at the end of July, renewing a deal with ESPN but also agreeing on a deal with NBC and Amazon Prime. TNT had a chance to match the Amazon portion of the deal, but it was not successful. The deal, worth many billions of dollars, will last for the next 11 seasons starting in 2025.
TNT missing the cut also means the end of fan-favorite NBA analysis show "Inside the NBA." After the media deal was reported, "Inside the NBA" host Charles Barkley said that he's "not sure TNT ever had a chance."
As of now, TNT's future with the NBA is still murky: After failing to match Amazon's piece, TNT and its parent company Warner Bros Discovery said in a statement that it will continue to challenge that ruling, saying that stipulations in its previous contract mean that the NBA can't reject its matching offer.
For now though, fans have one season left to enjoy it. Besides tip-off week, other highlights of the TNT slate include an NBA finals rematch with the Mavericks at the Celtics on February 6, several key NBA Cup matchups and a number of interconference rivalries.
The rest of the NBA on TNT schedule can be found here.