“Now LeBron James is gone and Cleveland Cavaliers won’t ever have national TV games again”: NBA releases national TV schedule with Lakers getting 30 games vs Cavs’ 0

Raahib Singh
|PublishedAug 21, 2021

"Now LeBron James is gone and Cleveland Cavaliers won't ever have national TV games again": NBA releases national TV schedule with Lakers getting 30 games vs Cavs' 0

NBA released its 2021-22 season schedule last night, and LeBron James and the Lakers lead the way with 30 nationally televised games

The 2021-22 season feels closer than ever. After they released the 2021-22 Opening Night and Christmas Day schedules last week, the anticipation for the regular-season schedule was higher than ever. With the entire season schedule out last night, people already started marking dates for the highly anticipated matchups.

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Another thing people started noticing was the number of nationally televised games per team. The Lakers lead the way in that department, with 30 nationally televised games. The Warriors follow closely at #2 with 29. The Nets have 26, and the defending champions have 25. Meanwhile, the Kings, the Cavs, the Thunder, and the Magic have 0 nationally televised games to look forward to.

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NBA Twitter reacts to the National TV game schedule

If the number of games televised on NBA TV is also counted, LeBron James and the Lakers have 42 games, whereas the Warriors have 41.

NBA National TV games (including ESPN, ABC, TNT, NBATV) – Part 2

T-10. Nuggets – 26
T-10. Mavericks – 26
13. Heat – 22
14. Hawks – 19
15. Trail Blazers – 16
16. Pelicans – 15
17. Bulls – 12
18. Grizzlies – 11
19. Hornets – 8
T-20. Raptors – 6

— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) August 20, 2021

There were many different reactions to the schedule. While some made fun of the fact that the NBA targetted the Warriors for 41 games, it makes sense. The Warriors did have 5 out of 10 most viewed games last season. Meanwhile, others talked about how their teams got little to no national spotlight.

Warriors got 40 national TV games lmaoooo. NBA know who they cash cow is

— dame (@DameDeadAF) August 20, 2021

Zero national TV games for the Rockets this year (NBA TV doesn’t count, sorry).

Just two seasons ago they were scheduled for 32 national TV games.

It’s definitely a new era. https://t.co/a2ehgigbyr

— Andrew Soukup (@asoukuptx) August 20, 2021

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So the Kings only national TV game in three(!) seasons was the game against the Pelicans that was canceled in March 2020.

Neat @NBA

— Chris Lopez (@CLopez63) August 20, 2021

also yes GSW/Nets/Lakers ext all deserve a bunch of national tv games but im sure the NBA can make room for at least one game for each team if they giving some team nearly half their schedule

— ⚡️ (@DTUrw2) August 20, 2021

About the author

Raahib Singh

Raahib Singh is an NBA Journalist and Content Strategist at The SportsRush. A Computer Science Engineer by qualification, Raahib's passion for sports drew him towards TSR. He started playing basketball at 14 and has been following the NBA since 2013. His entry into the basketball world perfectly coincided with Stephen Curry putting the league on notice. Having followed the league for a long time, he decided to use his knowledge to become a sportswriter with The SportsRush in 2020. Raahib loves to put up some shots in his spare time, watch Cricket, Formula 1, and/or read a nice thriller.

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