Watching the NBA season continues to be a mixed bag for cord-cutters. Big matchups are broadcast nationally on ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, TNT, and NBA TV, and you can get most, if not all, of these covered with a single live TV streaming package. Unfortunately, regional sports networks (RSNs), which air the majority of games, are still hard to find on major streaming services. Many RSNs, such as Fox Sports, NBC Sports, YES Network, and Marquee Sports Network, remain unavailable on popular platforms due to ongoing carriage-fee disputes.
RSNs are even more essential to NBA viewing now that the league has introduced its In-Season Tournament, re-branded this year as the Emirates NBA Cup. The bulk of the 30-team tournament—which runs from November 12 through December 17—will air on the respective team’s local home network.
Whether want to watch the battle for the NBA cup or you’re mainly interested in following your local team through the season, your best bet is to determine which streaming service has an agreement with your team’s regional network and go with that one. Chances are it will also stream some or all the cable networks mentioned above. A few teams can still be found on over-the-air channels—the Chicago Bulls on the windy city’s WGN, for one—but that arrangement is rapidly going the way of the two-handed set shot.
We’ve put together guide to all your options, whether you just want to follow your team or the whole league, when the season tips off on October 24.
Update, October 16, 2024: Here are all your streaming options for the 2023-24 NBA season.
Over the air
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Martyn Williams/Foundry
The good news is you can access ABC for free if you have an over-the-air TV antenna (you’ll find our top antenna picks here) and are within the radius of your local ABC affiliate’s broadcast tower. The bad news is the network is scheduled to air only about two dozen of this year’s nationally televised games. These, however, include some of the league’s marquee matchups, including three Christmas Day games—Timberwolves vs. Mavericks, Celtics vs. 76ers, and Lakers vs. Warriors.
You can watch the remaining games with some combination of the following services.
Sling TV
The easiest way to catch many of the cable telecasts is with the Sling TV streaming service, but you’ll need to pony up for a monthly subscription. For $40 per month (currently half off for the first month), Sling’s Orange package will get you ESPN/ESPN 2 and TNT. You can also get NBA TV with the Sports Extra add-on for an additional $11 per month. With a TV antenna to catch the ABC broadcasts, you’ll have everything covered.
DirectTV Stream
You can also get ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and NBA TV with DirectTV Stream. All you need is the Choice package for $114.99 per month, currently being offered for a $20-a-month discount for the first three months. You might also be able to get your local team’s games, as DirectTV Stream is the only service to offer a full complement of regional sports networks, including the NBC Sports regional networks, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, New England Sports Network, YES Network, and Spectrum SportsNet LA. To find out what’s available in your area, enter your ZIP code into DirectTV Stream’s channel lookup.
Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV
Both Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV give you access to ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, and TNT, for a flat fee, but only YouTube TV offers NBA TV, giving it the edge for hoop heads. Hulu + Live TV costs $76.99 a month after a three-day trial. YouTube TV charges $72.99 a month, discounted to $49.99 a month for the first two months. With just the one channel package for each of these services, however, you don’t get the customizability of Sling TV or DirecTV Stream, so keep that in mind if you plan to use your subscription beyond basketball season.
YouTube TV uses a small number of menu sections to make navigation easier.
FuboTV
FuboTV offers ABC and ESPN in its $79.99-per-month Pro package, and you get $20 off the first month. This package also includes regional networks NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California, which is great news if you’re a fan of the Kings, Warriors, Lakers, or Clippers. You can add NBA TV by purchasing the Sports Lite add-on for an additional $9.99 a month.
Fubo appeals to sports fans, and it includes NBA TV.
NBA League Pass
If you’re truly hardcore for the hardwood, you should consider a subscription to NBA League Pass, the league’s official streaming service. For $109.99 a year or $16.99 per month, you can watch every live out-of-market game that isn’t being broadcast nationally on one of the four networks we’ve mentioned.
A League Pass subscription allows you to watch every game feed (home, away, mobile view, plus additional languages and camera angles) on your TV, computer, tablet, and smartphone. Games originally broadcast on ESPN, TNT, and ABC are available three hours after completion in the video archives. You also get anytime access to a curated selection of “classic” games.
For $159.99 a year or $24.99 per month, you can upgrade to NBA League Pass Premium, which enables you to stream a game on three devices at once and watch all games commercial free.
With an NBA League Pass subscription, you can stream live out-of-market games to your TV, computer, or mobile device.
NBA Team Pass
That’s a big investment if you only want to follow your favorite team. NBA Team Pass is a less-expensive alternative. For $89.99 a year, you get access to all your squad’s local broadcasts for both home and away games.
The rub is that NBA blackout rules still apply. If you live in your team’s “home” market—a Warriors fan residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example—you still won’t be able to watch their games even with a Team Pass subscription (this goes for League Pass as well). Your team’s home market, however, isn’t necessarily defined by your town’s city limits.
In the NBA’s own words, the league determines blackout zones “using zip code (if watching via a satellite television provider), a combination of zip code and cable system distribution territory (if watching via a cable television provider), or by the IP address associated with your internet connection or your mobile device’s GPS coordinates.”
That means this isn’t a cord-cutting option for everyone. You can see which teams are not available in your area in the blackout section on this page when you choose your subscription.
NBA streaming is still 50-50 ball
Streaming live NBA games continues to be a mixed bag for cord-cutters. The availability of national broadcasts through streaming services gives you a courtside seat for some of the biggest matchups of the season. But local fanbases who want to follow their team continue to be left on the bench, for the most part. Until streaming options for regional sports networks become more widely available, you might want to dust off your radio.
