Where to Watch the NBA Now That TNT Is Gone

For 36 years, Thursday night meant TNT. That ended with the 2024-25 season, when the NBA's new 11-year media agreement took effect and Turner was left out of it. Two seasons in, the league's national coverage is split three ways — ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video — and the viewing habits fans built over three decades no longer apply.

Here is where every game lives for the 2026-27 season, which starts Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

The three national partners

What happened to TNT — and to Inside the NBA

Warner Bros. Discovery lost the NBA package in the 2024 rights negotiation and sued the league; the parties settled. As part of that settlement, TNT Sports continues to produce Inside the NBA, but the show is now exclusively distributed on ESPN and ABC platforms. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson are still together — you just find them on ESPN.

TNT itself no longer carries NBA games.

Where to find each kind of game

Opening night (October 20, 2026): NBC and Peacock, with a tripleheader.

Weeknights. Peacock has Monday. NBC and Peacock share Tuesday under the "Coast 2 Coast" branding, beginning October 27. ESPN owns Wednesday doubleheaders. Prime Video anchors Friday, adding Thursday and Saturday windows in January and February.

Sundays. ESPN and ABC hold the afternoon window. NBC's Sunday Night Basketball begins January 24, with seven Sunday doubleheaders across the season.

Christmas Day. Five games across ABC and ESPN on December 25.

Emirates NBA Cup. Group play runs on Fridays from October 30 through November 27; knockout rounds run December 4-11, with Prime Video carrying the championship.

All-Star Weekend. Phoenix, February 19-21, on NBC Sports platforms.

Play-In Tournament. Prime Video exclusively.

Playoffs. Split across all three partners in the first two rounds. Prime Video has an exclusive presentation of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2026-27. The NBA Finals remain exclusively on ABC/ESPN.

What you need to subscribe to

This is where the fragmentation bites. Following the full national schedule now requires access to three ecosystems.

The antenna deserves more attention than it gets. ABC's Saturday primetime and Sunday afternoon games, and NBC's over-the-air games, are broadcast free. A $35 indoor antenna covers a meaningful slice of the national schedule at zero recurring cost, and picks up NFL, the NCAA tournament, and the Olympics as a bonus. Check a coverage map for your address first — reception varies sharply with distance and terrain.

Your local team is a separate problem

National packages do not carry most of your favorite team's games. Local rights still sit with regional sports networks, over-the-air affiliates, or team-owned streaming apps, depending on the market, and that landscape has been unstable since the collapse of the old Bally Sports structure.

The league's team and app pages point to the current local carrier for each market. That is the reliable starting point — the answer differs by team and has changed for many of them in the last three years.

NBA League Pass: what it does and does not do

League Pass covers out-of-market games. It is not a way to watch your local team live, and it does not carry nationally televised games live.

Blackouts apply. Nationally televised games become available three hours after they finish; locally televised games, three days later. League Pass is excellent for a fan who has moved away from their team's market and close to useless for one who has not.

Bandwidth and setup

Plan on 10-15 Mbps per HD stream and 25 Mbps or more for 4K. A household running two games at once during the playoffs should have real headroom. Wired Ethernet to your main streaming device is the single most effective fix for buffering.

If you dropped cable during the TNT transition and kept internet from the same provider, verify your rate — bundle discounts routinely lapse when the TV portion is removed, and standalone internet pricing in most US markets has shifted substantially with fiber and fixed-wireless competition.

Watching without cable: costs, cheapest setup and key dates

What each option costs

Amazon Prime is the standout value. At $139 a year the NBA costs nothing extra if you already have Prime — 67 games, every Play-In Tournament game, the NBA Cup final on December 11, and an exclusive Eastern Conference Finals. No sports package in American television has a lower marginal cost.

The antenna deserves attention too. ABC's Saturday primetime and Sunday afternoon games, and NBC's over-the-air games, broadcast free. A $20 to $60 indoor antenna covers a real slice of the national schedule permanently, and picks up NFL games, the NCAA tournament and the Olympics as a bonus. Check a coverage map for your address first — reception depends on terrain and distance from the transmitter far more than on antenna price.

The cheapest complete setup

That is meaningfully less than a $1,000-plus cable bill, and you can drop ESPN Unlimited if the Finals on ABC over an antenna is enough for you — which for many casual fans it is.

Before subscribing, check your mobile carrier and internet provider's perks page. Peacock and Prime Video are both commonly bundled into wireless and broadband plans, and paying separately for something you already have is a frequent and avoidable expense.

Key dates for 2026-27

Frequently asked questions

Why isn't the NBA on TNT anymore? Warner Bros. Discovery was not part of the league's 11-year rights agreement that began in 2025-26. ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video hold the national packages.

**Where is Inside the NBA?** Still produced by TNT Sports, but distributed exclusively on ESPN and ABC.

Is the NBA included with Amazon Prime? Yes, at no additional cost beyond a Prime membership ($14.99/month or $139/year).

Where are the NBA Finals? ABC and ESPN, exclusively.

Can I watch NBA games free? Some. ABC and NBC games broadcast over the air are free with an antenna.

Does League Pass show my local team? No. It covers out-of-market games only, with blackouts on national and local broadcasts.

When does the 2026-27 season start? Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with an NBC/Peacock tripleheader.

Bottom line

The single-channel era is over. Prime membership plus an antenna covers a surprising amount of the schedule cheaply; adding Peacock and ESPN closes the gap. Decide first whether you are chasing the national schedule or one specific team — the answers are completely different.