
2024-25 NBA schedule: Which teams have most nationally televised games, and the reasoning behind it
CBSN
Lakers, Celtics, Warriors and Knicks are on top of this list
The NBA released the schedule for the upcoming 2024-25 season on Thursday, highlighting the opening week's slate of games, matchups on Christmas Day as well as the third edition of Rivalry Week. We're just over two months away from Opening Night on Oct. 22, so all attention between now and then will be on the excitement for next season. But beyond all the intrigue around matchups like Klay Thompson's return to the Bay Area on Nov. 12, or Paul George returning to play the Clippers on Nov. 6, another interesting wrinkle with the schedule release is looking at which teams will be seen the most on a national stage.
The league never puts a focus on telling us which teams are getting the most nationally televised games, but it doesn't take too much time to scan through every team's schedule and figure out where they all rank in that category. At the top of the list is nothing too surprising -- you've got the biggest brands in the leagues leading the way, as well as the reigning champions. But looking at which teams are getting the most games on national television also tells us which squads or players the league views as being on the rise and which ones have fallen out of favor in terms of interest. You can also see how offseason moves impact the number of games each team gets on national television.
With that being said, let's look at where all 30 teams rank in nationally televised games for the 2024-25 season and give some insight into why they are where they are. For the purpose of this, only games on ESPN/ABC and TNT will count as nationally televised games, as NBATV is not a channel everyone gets.