The NBA released the complete 2023-24 season schedule for every team on Thursday after previously unveiling a preview earlier this week for the in-season tournament.
The regular season will tip off on Oct. 24 with the Denver Nuggets hosting the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of a doubleheader on TNT. The Nuggets, as the defending champions, will receive their rings prior to the contest. Phoenix will visit Golden State in the second game.
The first five days of the regular season will feature 10 national TV games. Those games will showcase 14 different teams, three rematches from the 2023 NBA playoffs and rosters that currently include 17 All-Stars from last season and seven MVPs.
The NBA today released its complete game schedule for the 2023-24 regular season.
🏀 Schedule by day: https://t.co/xbV9h7p4pT
🏀 Schedule by team: https://t.co/DpwzhGB94u
🏀 Press release: https://t.co/8Buebtuwr9 pic.twitter.com/RgEsqhuX88
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 17, 2023
The upcoming season will feature plenty of the San Antonio Spurs and No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama on national TV. The Spurs are currently scheduled to appear 19 times across ESPN, NBA TV and TNT throughout the season.
The first of their seven appearances on ESPN will be the regular-season opener on Oct. 25 as the Spurs host the Dallas Mavericks. They will be showcased nationally a total of six times before December, including three of their first five games.
With the official announcement of the schedule on Thursday, we took a look at some of the most anticipated games of the season for Wembanyama and the Spurs.
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 25 (ESPN)
It was reported last week by Marc Stein on Substack that Wembanyama and the Spurs would open the regular season by hosting Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
The contest will serve as the first official game for Wembanyama. As aforementioned, it is the first of 19 games that will be nationally televised this season as the Spurs are expected to be heavily showcased this season in the U.S. and around the world.
The 19-year-old is expected to lead the Spurs back to prominence, and it will undoubtedly be documented on national TV and in front of packed arenas around the league throughout the season.
ESPN and TNT will combine to televise 14 games during Group Play. NBA TV will also air two games.
The complete national television schedule ⬇️ https://t.co/09ugJKfQOx pic.twitter.com/UWp81ccnrT
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 15, 2023
Any opportunity to catch Wembanyama in action should be an exciting time for basketball fans and the nation will be able to catch the Spurs often in the new in-season tournament.
The NBA unveiled its schedule for the inaugural in-season tournament beginning with a group phase on Nov. 3 and continuing through Nov. 28. Of the Spurs’ 19 nationally-televised games, three of their four games in the in-season tournament will be broadcast on ESPN or TNT.
Teams will play their four group games on Tuesdays and Fridays in November with the exception of Election Day on Nov. 7 when no games will be played. The Spurs were placed into Group C along with Golden State, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Sacramento.
With the NBA attempting to institute a new staple into the schedule, it will ensure its biggest stars are front and center on the national landscape with Wembanyama among them.
FIBA.Basketball
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 14 (TNT)
Wembanyama and Holmgren have similar frames and can handle the ball, shoot and protect the paint. They also have plenty of hype surrounding their debuts and represent a key piece of his teams’ success this season and beyond.
Though they haven’t met in the NBA, they previously squared off in the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. Holmgren scored 10 points as the U.S. topped Wembanyama and France for the gold medal. Wembanyama had a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.
The Spurs and Thunder will meet four times this season as each contest figures to be rather exciting between two of the up-and-coming teams in the league.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 13 (NBA TV)
The prospect entering the NBA with perhaps as much hype as LeBron James in 2003 will face the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in a home back-to-back on Dec. 13 and Dec. 15.
Of course, Wembanyama previously caught the attention of James last season when the four-time champion called the eventual No. 1 pick an alien on the court with his overall ability and size.
No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor. At (his size), his ability to put the ball on the floor, shoot stepback jumpers out of the post, stepback 3s, catch-and-shoot 3s and block shots. He’s for sure a generational talent. Hopefully, he continues to stay healthy. You can tell he loves the game. He was smiling a lot.
Wembanyama and the Spurs will face James and the Lakers one final time in the regular season on the road on Feb. 23. The matchups figure to be highly anticipated pitting two of the top prospects the NBA has ever seen against each other.
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Date: Thursday, Dec. 28
Wembanyama and Henderson previously matched up last October when the G League Ignite hosted Metropolitans 92 for two games in Henderson, Nevada.
The first contest was hyped up as an early look at the projected top picks in the NBA draft and it delivered. Over 200 credentials were issued to scouts, executives, media and other individuals to see the two players square off for the first time.
Wembanyama produced 37 points and five blocked shots in that contest on 7-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Henderson responded by putting up a team-high 28 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals in the 122-115 win.
Henderson logged only four minutes in the rematch due to a knee injury.
The two players will now see each other again in the NBA with Wembanyama and the Spurs set to play Henderson and the Trail Blazers three times this season. If those games are anything like their previous matchups, it will make for must-watch TV.
Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images
Wembanyama was one of four French players drafted this year, joining teammate Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7), Rayan Rupert (No. 43) and Sidy Cissoko (No. 44). It marked the third time that at least four French players were selected in the same year (2016, 2022).
Of course, Wembanyama played with Coulibaly last season with Metropolitans 92 and is currently teammates with Cissoko on the Spurs. He has also trained some with Rupert over the years in France and the two were each on the U15 French national team.
Certainly, the following dates and games for Wembanyama and Cissoko against Coulibaly and Rupert will be memorable firsts for all of the players involved.
Rupert, Portland: Dec. 28 at Portland
Coulibaly, Washington: Jan. 20 at Washington
Wembanyama has also looked up to several other French players over the years and will undoubtedly be excited to see them throughout his rookie campaign.
Other notable first games against French players
- Nicolas Batum, LA Clippers: Oct. 29 at Los Angeles
- Evan Fournier, New York Knicks: Nov. 8 at New York
- Rudy Gobert, Minnesota: Nov. 10 (San Antonio)
- Ousmane Dieng, Oklahoma City Thunder: Nov. 14 at Oklahoma City