As LeBron James enters his record-setting 23rd NBA season and superstar Luka Doncic back for his first full season in L.A., the Lakers are tied with the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors and the New York Knicks for the most nationally televised games in the league.
The NBA announced the regular season schedule Thursday, and the Lakers’ slate highlights the league’s growing number of broadcast partners. The Lakers open the season at home against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 on NBC, have ABC/ESPN’s 5 p.m. primetime slot against the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day and will welcome a familiar face back to Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 28 on Prime.
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Anthony Davis’ return to L.A. with the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28 will wrap up NBA Cup group play. The former Lakers star forward was injured during what was going to be his return to L.A. last season after he was traded to the Mavericks in a shocking trade.
Now in its third year, the NBA Cup will begin on Oct. 31 with the Lakers playing at Memphis in West Group B that also includes the New Orleans Pelicans, the Clippers and the Mavericks. The Lakers have their second group game at New Orleans on Nov. 14 before playing the Clippers on Nov. 25 in Inglewood, where the game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. PST on NBC, the latest starting time for any in-season tournament game.
Read more: LeBron James exercises $52.6-million option and will be first to play 23 NBA seasons
The NBA released only 80 of 82 regular-season games for each team as the final two games in December will be announced based on NBA Cup standings. The knockout rounds for the tournament begin on Dec. 9.
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The Lakers’ annual Grammy trip will have a hometown interlude as the two-week-long road trip includes a game at the Clippers on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. But the meeting in Inglewood doesn’t necessarily ease the travel load as it is the second of the nine-game trip, sandwiched between games at Denver (Jan. 20) and Dallas (Jan. 24).
After returning from the trip, the Lakers have an eight-game homestand, highlighted by a Feb. 22 game against the Boston Celtics, when the franchise will unveil a Pat Riley statue outside Crypto.com Arena, the team announced Thursday. The coach of the Showtime Lakers who guided the team to four NBA championships will be the 14th statue in the arena’s Star Plaza.
The Lakers begin training camp Sept. 29 before playing six preseason games, beginning in Palm Springs on Oct. 3 against the Suns. The slate also includes a game against the Mavericks in Las Vegas on Oct. 15.
Read more: ‘Just the beginning’: Luka Doncic on why he agreed to a three-year, $165-million contract extension
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2025-26 Lakers schedule
OCTOBER
21: Golden State, 7; 24: Minnesota, 7; 26: at Sacramento, 6; 27: Portland, 7:30; 29: at Minnesota, 6:30; 31: at Memphis, 6:30.
NOVEMBER
2: Miami. 6:30; 3: at Portland, 7; 5: San Antonio, 7; 8: at Atlanta, 5; 10: at Charlotte, 4; 12: at Oklahoma City, 6:30; 14: New at Orleans, 5; 15: at Milwaukee, 5; 18: Utah, 7:30; 23: at Utah, 5; 25: at Clippers, 8; 28: Dallas, 7; 30: New Orleans, 6:30.
DECEMBER
1: Phoenix, 7; 4: at Toronto, 4:30; 5: at Boston, 4; 7: at Philadelphia, 4:30; 18: at Utah, 6; 20: at Clippers, 7:30; 23: at Phoenix, 6; 25: Houston, 5; 28: Sacramento, 6:30; 30: Detroit, 7:30.
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JANUARY
2: Memphis, 7:30, 4: Memphis, 6:30; 6: at New Orleans, 5; 7: at San Antonio, 4:30; 9: Milwaukee, 7:30; 12: at Sacramento, 7; 13: Atlanta, 7:30; 15: Charlotte, 7:30; 17: at Portland, 7; 18: Toronto, 6:30; 20: at Denver, 7; 22: at Clippers, 7; 24: at Dallas, 5:30; 26: at Chicago, 5; 28: at Cleveland, 4; 30: at Washington, 4.
FEBRUARY
1: at New York, 4; 3: at Brooklyn, 4:30; 5: Philadelphia, 7; 7: Golden State, 5:30; 9: Oklahoma City, 7; 10: San Antonio, 7:30; 12: Dallas, 7; 20: Clippers, 7; 22: Boston, 3:30; 24: Orlando, 7:30; 26: at Phoenix, 6; 28: at Golden State, 5:30.
MARCH
1: Sacramento, 6:30; 3: New Orleans, 7:30; 5: at Denver, 7; 6: Indiana, 7:30; 8: New York, 12:30; 10: Minnesota, 8; 12: Chicago, 7:30; 14: Denver, 5:30; 16: at Houston, 6; 18: at Houston, 6:30; 19: at Miami, 5; 21: at Orlando, 4; 23: at Detroit, 4; 25: at Indiana, 4; 27: Brooklyn, 7:30; 30: Washington, 7; 31: Cleveland, 7:30.
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APRIL
2: at Oklahoma City, 4:30; 5: at Dallas, 4:30; 7: Oklahoma City, 7:30; 9: at Golden State, 7; 10: Phoenix, 7:30; 12: Utah, 5:30.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.