2025–26 NBA Season

The 2025–26 NBA season is the upcoming 80th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season is scheduled to begin on October 21, 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 2026 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for February 15, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The play-in tournament is then scheduled to be played in April 2026 followed by the playoffs the next day, and conclude with the NBA Finals in June.

Transactions

Draft

The 2025 NBA draft is scheduled for June 25–26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Free agency

Free agency negotiations will begin on June 30, 2025, at 6 p.m. ET. Players will officially signed after the July moratorium on July 6 at 12 p.m. ET.

Coaching changes

Off-season

* On April 14, 2025, the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after one season with the team.
* On May 1, 2025, the Sacramento Kings hired Doug Christie as their full-time head coach.
* On May 2, 2025, Gregg Popovich stepped down as Spurs head coach after 29 seasons with the team. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson was named the head coach.
* On May 2, 2025, the Memphis Grizzlies hired Tuomas Iisalo as their full-time head coach.
* On May 22, 2025, the Denver Nuggets hired David Adelman as their full-time head coach.
* On June 3, 2025, the New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after five seasons with the team.
* On June 6, 2025, the Phoenix Suns hired Jordan Ott as their head coach.

Preseason

In addition to regular preseason games hosted at NBA teams' own arenas, the NBA often hosts neutral site preseason games (either in domestic non-NBA markets or foreign markets) or against non-NBA teams. Listed below are only those neutral site or preseason games.

Domestic neutral site games

International games

Regular season

International games

Arena change

* The Wells Fargo Center, the home of the Philadelphia 76ers, will be renamed to Xfinity Mobile Arena on September 1, 2025, under a new naming rights deal with Xfinity.

Uniform and logo changes

* The Orlando Magic unveiled a new logo and uniforms, taking inspiration from the team's original look from 1989 to 2000. The "shooting ball with stars" logo returned with an updated look while the wordmarks were updated with a star replacing the letter "A" in the words "Orlando" and "Magic", which are reflected in their new uniforms. The team's "Icon" uniform was changed to a blue color while the "Statement" uniform was changed to a black and blue pattern inspired by the team's original warmup gear.

Media

National

This will be the first year of new 11-year deals with the ESPN family of networks, NBC Sports, and Amazon Prime Video. The ESPN networks renewed their contract with a modified schedule. NBC and Prime Video both replace TNT Sports and HBO Max, with NBC returning to televising the NBA for the first time since , and Prime Video signing its first U.S. national contract with the league.

Linear television

* ESPN continues to air Wednesday night games throughout the regular season, but ESPN's Friday schedule has been reduced to only selected weeks. ''NBA Saturday Primetime'' and ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' continue on ABC, with games on selected weeks between January and March. ABC and ESPN will also continue to have the Christmas Day games and the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.
* NBC will carry Tuesday night doubleheaders, scheduled at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, with NBC affiliates showing one or both games at their discretion. NBC will also have an eight-game ''Sunday Night Basketball'' package after the NFL season (carrying on from '' Sunday Night Football''). Games on opening night, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, as well as NBA All-Star Weekend (except for the Celebrity game) will also be on NBC.
* No decision has been made yet on whether NBA TV will continue airing games.

Streaming

* Amazon Prime Video will stream up to 66 regular season games, including Friday night games throughout the regular season, Thursday night games carrying on from ''Thursday Night Football'' after the NFL season, and select Saturday afternoon games. The streaming service will also have the entire knockout round of the NBA Cup.
* ESPN+ will stream ABC's games and select ESPN games. Disney+ may also stream select ESPN-produced games.
* Peacock will exclusively stream a package of Monday night games, as well as air both games of NBC's Tuesday night doubleheader and other select NBC games.
* The league-owned NBA League Pass will continue to offer out-of-market games.

Personnel

* ESPN signed a sub-licensing agreement to air TNT Sports' ''Inside the NBA'' studio show on select days, with TNT continuing to produce the program. ESPN's existing studio show, ''NBA Countdown'', will also continue to air.
* NBC's new team includes play-by-play announcers Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle; color commentators Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford; studio analysts Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter; and special contributor Michael Jordan.
* Amazon's new team includes play-by-play announcers Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan; color commentators Stan Van Gundy, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade and Candace Parker; studio host Taylor Rooks; and studio analysts Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, and Udonis Haslem.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2025–26 NBA season

NBA
2025–26 in Canadian basketball