Look, the NBA broadcast map just got set on fire. If you’re sitting there wondering "how do I watch live NBA games" without losing your mind—or your entire paycheck—you aren't alone. We are officially in the first year of the massive new 11-year media rights deal, and it has changed everything. TNT is gone. NBC is back with that iconic "Roundball Rock" theme song. Amazon is now a major player. Honestly, it’s a bit of a mess for the average fan just trying to catch a Tuesday night tip-off.
The old "just get cable" or "just get League Pass" advice is dead. It’s more like a digital scavenger hunt now. You’ve got games spread across five different major platforms, and that’s before we even talk about the nightmare that is local blackouts.
The New Reality: Where the Games Actually Live
Basically, the NBA is split between three main "families" now: Disney (ESPN/ABC), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock), and Amazon. If you want to see every national game, you basically need a subscription to all three. It’s a lot.
ESPN and ABC are still the big dogs for the postseason. They’ve got the NBA Finals exclusive through 2036. If you’re a casual fan who only cares about the big marquee matchups on Christmas Day or the Eastern Conference Finals, this is your home base. They usually handle the Wednesday night and Friday night doubleheaders.
Then there’s the NBC return. It’s weird seeing hoops on NBC again after two decades, but they’ve taken over the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday windows. A huge chunk of these—especially the Monday night games—are exclusive to Peacock. You can’t even find them on the traditional NBC channel in some cases. It's a "streaming-first" world, and we're just living in it.
Amazon Prime Video is the newest kid on the block. They snagged a 66-game package. They’ve got Thursday nights (once the NFL season ends), Fridays, and they are the exclusive home for the NBA Cup knockout rounds. If you want to see who wins that mid-season tournament, you have to have Prime. No exceptions.
How Do I Watch Live NBA Games Without Cable?
If you've cut the cord, you have a few distinct paths. You can go the "Live TV Streaming" route with something like DIRECTV STREAM or Fubo, or you can go "A La Carte."
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The Live TV Substitute: DIRECTV STREAM is widely considered the gold standard right now because it’s one of the few that still carries most Regional Sports Networks (RSNs). If you live in LA and want to watch the Lakers on Spectrum SportsNet, or in New York for the Knicks on MSG, this is often the only way to get your local team alongside national channels like ESPN and NBC. It’s expensive, though. We’re talking $90 to $120 a month.
The App Strategy: This is for the budget-conscious. You can grab Peacock for about $8 a month, Amazon Prime for $15, and the new ESPN Unlimited service (which launched recently to give direct access to the main ESPN channels without a cable login). It’s cheaper than a full cable package, but you’ll likely miss your local team’s games unless they offer a standalone app like SunsLive or MavsTV.
NBA League Pass: This is the ultimate "it depends" service. League Pass is amazing if you live in Chicago but love the Oklahoma City Thunder. You get every single out-of-market game. But—and this is a massive but—if you live in the same city as your favorite team, League Pass is useless for live games. They will be blacked out. You’ll have to wait three days to watch the replay.
The Blackout Problem Nobody Talks About
Blackouts are the bane of every NBA fan’s existence. It’s all about the money. Your local RSN pays the team hundreds of millions of dollars for the exclusive right to show games in your "home territory."
Even if a game is on League Pass, if you’re in that team’s zip code, the stream is blocked. Even if a game is on a national network like ESPN, sometimes the local broadcast still takes precedence. It’s frustrating. It makes "how do I watch live NBA games" a much harder question than it should be.
The 2025-26 season has seen some relief here as several RSNs have gone bankrupt or transitioned to "over-the-air" local channels. Teams like the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, and New Orleans Pelicans are now broadcasting many games for free on local stations you can catch with a $20 digital antenna. It’s a "back to the future" moment that is actually great for fans.
Your Game Plan for the Season
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don't just start buying subscriptions. Step back and look at who you actually want to watch.
- If you follow a specific local team: Check their website first. See if they have a "Direct-to-Consumer" (DTC) app. Many teams now let you pay $15-$20 a month just for their games.
- If you just want the "Big" games: Get an antenna for ABC and NBC, and maybe look into the ESPN/Disney bundle.
- If you are a hoops junkie: You’re going to need the "Big Three": Peacock, Prime Video, and a way to get ESPN.
A weird quirk this year: Amazon is now the primary distributor for NBA League Pass. You can actually subscribe to League Pass through your Amazon Prime account. It makes the tech much more stable than the old NBA app, which used to crash during the fourth quarter of every close game.
Keep in mind that prices fluctuate. Peacock often runs $2-a-month specials around Black Friday, and some cellular plans (like Verizon or T-Mobile) still offer "on us" bundles for Disney+ or Hulu.
To actually get started, your first move should be checking your zip code on the NBA's official blackout tracker. It’s the only way to be 100% sure which games you’ll actually be able to see before you drop a single cent on a subscription. Once you know who owns your local rights, you can fill in the gaps with the national streaming apps.
The era of "one-stop shopping" for basketball is over. It’s annoying, but with a little planning, you can still catch every dunk without paying for a bunch of cable channels you’ll never watch.