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2025–26 NBA season

The 2025–26 NBA season is the 80th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 21, 2025 and will end on April 12, 2026. The third edition of the in-season NBA Cup tournament was held from October 31 through December 16, 2025, with the New York Knicks winning it against the San Antonio Spurs. The 2026 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 15, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The play-in tournament is scheduled to be played from April 14 to 17, 2026, followed the next day by the opening of the playoffs, which will conclude with the NBA Finals starting June 3, with a possible game 7 scheduled for June 19.

Transactions

Retirements

  • On June 29, 2025, Bojan Bogdanović announced his retirement from professional basketball, citing recurring foot injuries. He played for six teams in his ten-year NBA career.
  • On August 18, 2025, Marco Belinelli announced his retirement from professional basketball. He spent 13 seasons in the NBA and won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.
  • On August 19, 2025, John Wall announced his retirement from professional basketball. He played for three teams in his 13-year career.
  • On August 30, 2025, Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball. He played for eight teams in his nine-year NBA career. He is best known for the "Linsanity" phenomenon when he played with the New York Knicks in the 2011–12 season. He later won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
  • On October 15, 2025, Malcolm Brogdon announced his retirement from professional basketball. He played for five teams in his nine-year career and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2017.
  • On November 22, 2025, Chris Paul announced that the 2025–26 season would be his last after playing for seven teams during his 21-year career. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2006 and was the last remaining active player from the 2005 NBA draft. He announced his retirement from professional basketball on February 13, 2026.
  • On December 2, 2025, Danilo Gallinari announced his retirement from professional basketball. He played for eight teams over a sixteen-year career.

Draft

The 2025 NBA draft took place on June 25–26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Free agency

Free agency negotiations began on June 30, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. ET. Players may be signed after the July moratorium on July 6 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Notable trades

Coaching changes

Off-season

In-season

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

Non-NBA opponents

Regular season

The NBA released the regular season schedule on August 14, with select games announced in advance of the full schedule release.

International games

NBA Cup

The NBA Cup returned for the 2025–26 season, with the same basic structure:

  • All games except the championship final counting towards the regular-season standings.
  • Six intraconference pools of five (three pools per conference).
  • This season, the group games against each of the other teams in their pool (two at home and two on the road), were held primarily on Fridays between October 31 and November 28. Group games were also played on Tuesday, November 25 and Wednesday, November 26.
  • The winners of each pool (three teams per conference) and two wild-card teams (one team per conference) advanced to a single-elimination tournament held on December 9, 10, 13 and 16.
  • To compensate, the NBA's regular-season scheduling formula was modified so only 80 games for each team were initially announced during the offseason. The first two rounds of the tournament counted as regular-season games 81 and 82. The championship game was an extra 83rd game that did not count toward the regular season. Teams that did not qualify for the in-season tournament knockout round, or were eliminated in the quarterfinals, were scheduled additional games against other teams that were eliminated in the same conference (if possible) and round to reach 82 games.
  • The semifinals and championship game were held at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada for the third consecutive season.

Standings

Eastern Conference
Western Conference

By conference

Notes

  • z Ã¢Â€Â“ Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c Ã¢Â€Â“ Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
  • y Ã¢Â€Â“ Clinched division title
  • pi Ã¢Â€Â“ Clinched play-in tournament spot (locked into a play-in spot but not able to clinch a playoff spot directly)
  • ps Ã¢Â€Â“ Clinched postseason (at least a play-in spot but can still clinch a playoff spot directly)
  • x Ã¢Â€Â“ Clinched playoff spot
  • o Ã¢Â€Â“ Eliminated from postseason contention
  • * Ã¢Â€Â“ Division leader

Postponed games

Play-in tournament

The top six seeds in each conference advanced to the main rounds of the 2026 NBA playoffs, while the next four seeds participated in a Page playoff system tournament from April 14–17, 2026. The 7th-place team hosted the 8th-place team in the double-chance round needing to win one game to advance, with the winner clinching the 7th seed in the playoffs. The 9th-place team hosted the 10th-place team in the elimination round requiring two wins to advance, with the loser being eliminated from the contention. The loser in the double-chance round hosted the elimination-round game-winner, with the winner clinching the 8th seed and the loser being eliminated.

Eastern Conference

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Western Conference

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Playoffs

The playoffs will begin on April 18, 2026.

Statistics

Statistics accurate as of March 28, 2026.

Individual statistic leaders

Individual game highs

Team statistic leaders

Awards

Players of the Week

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week.

Players of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month.

Defensive Players of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Defensive Players of the Month.

Rookies of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month.

Coaches of the Month

The following coaches were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month.

Arena changes

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.
  • The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a new purple Statement Edition uniform. The Lakers’ white wordmark is outlined in gold, and the white jersey numbers have a gold drop shadow. The design removes the previous black side panel, leaving only purple and gold, with "Los Angeles Lakers" along the side trim. The primary logo appears at the center of the shorts, while the "LA" mark is shown on both sides for the first time on a core uniform. "Leave a Legacy" is placed above the jock tag, and "17" at the back of the neck represents the team’s championships.
  • The Phoenix Suns unveiled a new black Statement Edition uniform. The uniform takes inspiration from Arizona's sunsets with a purple and orange The Valley gradient throughout its design. A bold Phoenix wordmark is placed on the chest at an angle where the left side is leaning downwards. The team's sunburst logo was reimagined with the Valley-inspired gradient streaks across the shorts, while the classic sunburst logo is on the center of the beltline. The Suns would wear this uniform for the first time on October 31 against the Utah Jazz in their first 2025 NBA Cup game.
  • The NBA, in partnership with Topps, announced that players who played their first NBA game would wear an "NBA Debut" patch on their uniforms, which were then removed and authenticated after the game on an autographed, one-on-one numbered rookie card. Additionally, previous season's winners of the Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year would wear a gold NBA logo patch on the back of their uniforms for the entire season. All award winners and members of last season's All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams also wore a special patch on their uniforms (or lapels in the case of Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year winners) during their first game of the season. These patches depicted specific silhouettes tied to each player's award or year-end team selection. After the game, these uniforms are auctioned off by Sotheby's throughout the season. LeBron James would also wear a special patch on his uniform commemorating his record 23rd NBA season, starting with the January 12 game at the Sacramento Kings. This design featured his trademark chalk toss silhouette in front of each of the four colors corresponding to the teams he played: navy for his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, red for the Miami Heat, wine for his second stint with the Cavaliers, and gold for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Media

Television

National

This is the first season 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, 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
  • ABC primarily carries the flagship NBA Saturday Primetime, a seven-week package spanning from January 24 and March 14 (including two doubleheaders on January 24 and February 7); due to the postponement of the Golden State–Minnesota game on January 24, the Detroit–Minnesota game on March 28 was instead added to ABC's Saturday schedule. ABC will also continue to air NBA Sunday Showcase, with games this season on five Sunday afternoons: February 8, and from February 22 to March 15 (including doubleheaders on three straight Sundays from February 22 to March 8). ABC and ESPN simulcast the slate of five Christmas Day games.
  • ESPN primarily carries Wednesday night games during the regular season, with a limited selection of games on other days as the schedule allows; this includes Friday nights, as ESPN no longer airs a regular Friday-night package under the new contract. Games only on ESPN will continue to be non-exclusive and co-exist with the teams' regional broadcast. ESPN also carried the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, and will carry the NBA draft. On the final Sunday of the regular season, April 12, ESPN will air a doubleheader with games to be determined; with ESPN opting out of and renegotiating its Major League Baseball contract to no longer include Sunday Night Baseball, this doubleheader will now air in evening and primetime windows.
  • NBC primarily broadcasts Coast 2 Coast Tuesdays—a weekly doubleheader with games scheduled at 8&nbsp;p.m. ET/5&nbsp;p.m. PT and 11&nbsp;p.m. ET/8&nbsp;p.m. PT respectively; NBC affiliates have the option to show one or both games at their discretion (with the 8 p.m. game generally shown in the East, and the 11 p.m. game in the West), and both games are simulcast on Peacock; on December 23 and 30, NBC instead aired standard, national doubleheaders with 8 and 10:30&nbsp;p.m. ET windows instead of the Coast 2 Coast Tuesdays format. Following the conclusion of Sunday Night Football for the season, NBC began to carry a Sunday Night Basketball package spanning from February 1 to April 5, with February 1, March 29 and April 5 scheduled as doubleheaders. The package took breaks on February 8 and 15 due to NBC's coverage of Super Bowl LX and the NBA All-Star Game. NBC also carried the opening night NBA Tip-Off doubleheader, a national doubleheader on December 29, and a Martin Luther King Jr. Day tripleheader. Some of NBC's games can be non-exclusive and co-exist with the teams' regional broadcasts. Spanish-language broadcasts of Sunday Night Basketball, the Mexico City Global Game, and the All-Star Game will be on Telemundo.
  • NBCUniversal relaunched its NBCSN cable network in November 2025, which simulcasts all Peacock-exclusive NBA telecasts (with overflow channels being available if more than one game airs at the same time). On February 24, both Coast 2 Coast Tuesday games aired on NBCSN in a standard 7:30 and 10 pm ET doubleheader format due to NBC News coverage of the State of the Union address.
  • NBA TV will continue to televise select games throughout the regular season, simulcast from regional broadcasters. Operations of NBA TV were taken in-house by the league, moving from TNT's Atlanta studios to the league's offices in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Streaming
  • Amazon Prime Video will stream Friday night doubleheaders during most of the regular season, and Thursday night games between January 15 and April 9 (except on March 19 and 26) with two games per week (carrying on from Thursday Night Football after the NFL season). Prime Video will also have Saturday afternoon games on January 10 and 31; February 7 and 28; March 7, 14, and 28; and April 4. It also carries the Berlin and London Global games, and the entire knockout round of the NBA Cup. A select number of Prime Video's games will be non-exclusive and co-exist with the teams' regional broadcasts.
  • The ESPN "Unlimited" streaming service will stream all ESPN-produced games,, including a simulcast of Celtics vs. Bulls on January 24, while both ESPN+ (ESPN Select) and Disney+ will continue to simulcast select ABC and ESPN games.
  • Peacock simulcasts all games aired by the NBC broadcast network, including both Coast 2 Coast Tuesday games nationwide. Peacock also has exclusive Monday night games throughout the season, with one to three games airing each week. It would also air the Mexico City Global Game, and one exclusive Martin Luther King Jr. Day game. A select number of these regular season games will also be non-exclusive and co-exist with the teams' regional broadcasts.
  • The league-owned NBA League Pass will continue to offer out-of-market games, and live access to NBA TV.
Postseason

In the United States, all first-round playoff games will now be exclusive national games, and there will no longer be regional broadcasts. The first two rounds will be split between Amazon Prime Video, ESPN/ABC, and NBC/Peacock. Amazon Prime Video will broadcast all Play-In Tournament games, and will have between nine and 17 first-round playoff games, and between five and nine second-round playoff games. ESPN and ABC will air approximately 18 games in the first two rounds. NBC and/or Peacock will air between 22 and 34 games in the first two rounds, with at least half of them airing on NBC.

Per a two-year rotation with Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock will air a conference final this season, while ESPN/ABC will have the other conference final. For this season, ESPN and ABC will air the Eastern Conference Finals, picking up where they left off from their previous rotation with TNT. NBC/Peacock will broadcast the Western Conference Finals, though NBC themselves revealed this later before the start of the regular season. ABC remains as the exclusive broadcaster of the NBA Finals, which it has aired exclusively since 2003.

Personnel

Local

  • Prior to the season, the Hawks, Cavaliers, Heat, Timberwolves and Bucks reached an extension with FanDuel Sports Network to keep their local games on the network until at least the 2026–27 season. The Heat later announced an agreement with WPLG, a local over-the-air station in Miami, to simulcast 12 regular season games with FanDuel Sports Network.
  • In September 2025, the Suns extended its agreement with Arizona's Family Sports through the 2027–28 season.
  • The Magic announced an agreement with Hearst Television to simulcast 10 games over-the-air in both Orlando and Tampa Bay. Games will air on WESH or WKCF in Orlando, and WMOR-TV in Tampa Bay.
FanDuel Sports Network teams

In December 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that DAZN was in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in Main Street Sports Group, the owner of the FanDuel Sports Networks. If the deal goes through, DAZN and Main Street would integrate their live streaming platform in the United States and collaborate on programming. Afterwards, Sports Business Journal reported that Main Street had missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and that the company would be forced to dissolve operations at the end of the 2025–26 season if the deal with DAZN did not go through by the end of January 2026. In January, Sports Business Journal reported that Main Street had missed payments to "several, if not all 13" of its NBA teams. As a result, Main Street and the teams with missed payments entered a 15-day grace period. Two days later, Sports Business Journal reported that talks with DAZN had stopped progressing and all MLB teams except the Tampa Bay Rays had not received payments on-time.

On January 8, 2026, all nine MLB teams with agreements with FanDuel Sports Network terminated their contracts with the company due to missed payments. In February 2026, most former FanDuel MLB teams announced production and distribution deals with MLB Local Media. Puck reported that Main Street intends to wind down FanDuel Sports Network in mid-April after the close of the 2025–26 NBA and NHL seasons.

International

  • In Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Prime Video will stream 20 additional regular-season games, along with the games being already aired in the United States, a conference final and the NBA Finals in 6 of the 11 years of the deal.
  • ESPN will additionally air its slate of games in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the Netherlands, and will air games through Disney+ in select markets in Asia and Europe. More notably, Disney+ will also stream selected games the Philippines, and will also stream selected marquee games exclusively, and one of its conference Finals and the NBA Finals will be available to stream on delay.
  • NBC will additionally air its slate of games on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Italy, and will distribute games in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.
  • TNT Sports will air games internationally in Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico).
  • NBA TV international will also air games in select countries worldwide.

Radio

National

  • ESPN Radio has rights to select regular-season games, all playoff games and rights to the NBA Finals.
  • This is the sixth season of the league's muti-year deal with SiriusXM and SiriusXM Canada to simulcast all 30 teams' local regular-season and postseason broadcasts.

Notable occurrences

  • The league introduced a new circular design for the shot clock.
  • On September 10, 2025, the NBA approved a rule change that will consider any shot taken within the final three seconds of the first three quarters that is taken from at least 36 feet away on any play that starts in the backcourt as a team shot attempt and not an individual one.
  • On October 13, 2025, the Milwaukee Bucks signed Alex Antetokounmpo to a two-way deal. With his brothers Giannis and Thanasis, this marks the first time in NBA history that three brothers have been on the same team's roster at the same time.
  • On October 23, 2025, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones were among those indicted for allegedly conducting rigged sports betting and poker games.
  • On October 23, 2025, the Oklahoma City Thunder became the first team in NBA history to head to double overtime in both of their first two games of the season.
  • On October 24, 2025, Luka Dončić became the fourth player in NBA history to open a season with back-to-back 40+ point games. He also became the first player in NBA history to open a season with back-to-back games of 40+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 5+ assists.
  • On October 24, 2025, Giannis Antetokounmpo became the first player in NBA history to have 60+ points, 30+ rebounds, and 10+ assists in the first two games of a season.
  • On October 29, 2025, Nikola Jokić set the record for most triple-doubles in under 30 minutes, with 17. The previous record was held by Russell Westbrook. He also tied the record for most consecutive triple-doubles to start the season, with 4; the record is also held by Westbrook and Oscar Robertson.
  • On November 10, 2025, the Cleveland Cavaliers set the record for most consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 three-pointers, with 98. The previous record was held by the Houston Rockets with a streak from 2018 to 2020. The streak ended on December 3, 2025, at 110 games.
  • On November 11, 2025, general manager Nico Harrison was fired from the Dallas Mavericks, nine months after orchestrating the Luka Dončić trade.
  • On November 14, 2025, Russell Westbrook became the second player after LeBron James to record 25,000 career points and 10,000 career assists.
  • On November 18, 2025, LeBron James set the record for most seasons played, with 23, breaking the record previously held by Vince Carter.
  • On December 4, 2025, LeBron James's streak of 1,297 games of scoring 10 or more points came to an end after he scored 8 points in a victory over the Toronto Raptors.
  • On December 6, 2025, the New York Knicks opened the game with a 23–0 scoring run against the Utah Jazz, the largest game-opening run without an opponent scoring since the league began keeping detailed play-by-play records in the 1997–98 season.
  • On December 10, 2025, the Oklahoma City Thunder tied the record for the best 25-game start, going 24–1 with a victory over the Phoenix Suns. This matches the record set by the 2015–16 Golden State Warriors.
  • On December 14, 2025, Stephen Curry broke the all time record for most 40-point games after the age of 30, surpassing Michael Jordan with a 48-point game in a 131–139 loss to the Trailblazers.
  • On December 15, 2025, Cooper Flagg became the youngest player to score 40 points, at the age of 18 years, 359 days. The previous record of 19 years, 88 days was held by LeBron James.
  • On December 20, 2025, LeBron James became the oldest player to score 30 points, at the age of 40 years, 355 days. The previous record of 40 years, 294 days was held by Dirk Nowitzki.
  • On December 22, 2025, Kon Knueppel set the record for the fewest games to make 100 three-pointers, with 29. The previous record of 41 was held by Lauri Markkanen.
  • On December 25, 2025, Nikola Jokić set the record for the most points in a single overtime period, with 18. The previous record of 17 was held by Stephen Curry. In the same game he set the record for the most points in a 15/15/15 game with 56. The previous record of 53 was held by James Harden.
  • On January 8, 2026, Rick Carlisle became the 11th head coach to record 1,000 regular season wins.
  • On January 10, 2026, Cody Williams set the record for the worst single-game plus/minus, recording a –60 in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The previous record of –58 was held by Scoot Henderson and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
  • On January 28, 2026, LeBron James became the first player to play 60,000 career minutes in the regular season.
  • On January 29, 2026, Cooper Flagg set the record for most points in a game by a teenager, with 49 in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The previous record of 45 was held by Cliff Robinson.
  • On February 12, 2026, LeBron James became the oldest player to record a triple-double, at the age of 41 years, 44 days. The previous record of 40 years, 127 days was held by Karl Malone.
  • On February 24, 2026, Kon Knueppel set the record for the fewest games to make 200 three-pointers, with 58. The previous record of 69 was held by Duncan Robinson.
  • On February 26, 2026, Kon Knueppel set the record for the most three-pointers in a season by a rookie, with 207. The previous record was held by Keegan Murray.
  • On March 1, 2026, LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points scored after the age of 40, with 1,942.
  • On March 1, 2026, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed Wilt Chamberlain for the most consecutive road games scoring 20 points, with 59.
  • On March 3, 2026, the Philadelphia 76ers became the first team in NBA history to lose three home games by 40 or more points, with a 131–91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
  • On March 5, 2026, LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most career field goals made, with 15,838.
  • On March 9, 2026, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the second player to have 35 points and 15 assists with no turnovers in a game, joining LeBron James.
  • On March 10, 2026, Bam Adebayo scored the second-most points in a game in NBA history, with 83 points in a 150–129 victory over the Washington Wizards. He made 36 of 43 free throws, both NBA records. The previous record of 28 free throws was held by Wilt Chamberlain and Adrian Dantley, and the previous record of 39 free throw attempts was held by Dwight Howard.
  • On March 12, 2026, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed Wilt Chamberlain for the most consecutive games scoring 20 points, with 127.
  • On March 19, 2026, the Detroit Pistons secured their first 50-win season since 2007–08.
  • On March 21, 2026, LeBron James surpassed Robert Parish for the most regular season games played, with 1,612.
  • On March 21, 2026, Kevin Durant passed Michael Jordan for 5th on the league's scoring list.
  • On March 25, 2026, the Minnesota Timberwolves set a record for the largest overtime comeback (13 points) in the play-by-play era.
  • On March 25, 2026, Kevin Durant passed Dirk Nowitzki for 8th on the career field goals list.
  • On March 25, 2026, Nikola Jokić became the first player to record 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 15 assists in consecutive games.
  • On March 25, 2026, the NBA board of governors authorized the exploration of expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas.
  • On March 26, 2026, Kon Knueppel set the record for the fewest games to make 250 three-pointers, with 72. The previous record of 79 was held by Duncan Robinson.
  • On March 29, 2026, the Toronto Raptors set an NBA record in the play-by-play era by scoring 31 unanswered points against the Orlando Magic. The previous record of 30 was held by the Denver Nuggets against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
  • On March 30, 2026, LeBron James recorded the 125th triple-double of his career with 21 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds to break his own triple-double oldest record, at the age of 41 years, 79 days. He also surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most wins in the regular season and the postseason, with 1,229.

See also

Notes

References