How to Get the NBA on TV

NBA League Pass is a standalone subscription and a subscription available from some TV providers that let you watch all out-of-market NBA games. But that means you can only watch certain games in each location.

For example, when we go to the NBA League Pass website, it tells us we won’t get access to Utah Jazz games while residing in Salt Lake City. If you are a Jazz fan but live in New York, you’ll be able to watch every Collin Sexton game.

If you also experience this blackout issue, you’ll have to get your team's games through your local cable TV channels, but you’ll get access to all of the other live NBA games with NBA League Pass.

If you can wait three days, NBA League Pass will have an archive of the event by then. And if an NBA game broadcasts on ESPN, ABC, TNT, or NBA TV, you’ll be able to watch the archive of the game three hours after it has aired.

NBA TV is the official channel of the NBA. It has live games (exhibition, regular, and playoff), live and post-game coverage, and exclusive NBA programming, such as NBA Gametime Live. NBA TV is available in many TV services, but it’s only included in select packages.

For this reason, we’ve found the cheapest TV packages that include NBA TV from every major TV service (see the next main section).

NBA League Pass gives you three options for your wallet and your NBA fan level. It’s a one-time ticket to a full season of basketball right in your living room (minus the gourmet arena food)!

So, which plan should you get?

NBA Team Pass lets you watch all out-of-market games for one team of your choosing. You’ll have to sit through the commercials instead of watch the in-arena stream during timeouts, and you’ll be able to stream on only one device at a time.

With NBA League Pass, you can stream all out-of-market games that aren’t blacked out and relive classic games (and Michael Jordan’s clutch shots). About 15 minutes after the game, you’ll get access to full-length and condensed game replays.

And the PREMIUM upgrade will let you watch all games commercial-free during timeouts, and you’ll stay in the arena to watch the action. You can also stream on three devices at once.

With all plans, you get to choose which broadcasters you want to hear from. Choose from home, away, or Spanish-speaking broadcasters.

Live TV streaming services YouTube TV, fuboTV, and Sling TV all offer NBA TV and NBA LEAGUE PASS. YouTube TV also has three channels any NBA fan needs to watch Steph Curry ball out: ESPN, ABC, and TNT.

fuboTV has more than 50 sports channels, but you'll need to spend $13 more than YouTube TV to get access to NBA TV. And Sling TV doesn't have ABC, but it's the cheapest option. (We know you're trying to save a little cash for that new Jokic jersey.)

If you're looking for a cable or satellite TV company with all four essential channels for the NBA season (ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, and TNT) and NBA LEAGUE PASS, then Xfinity TV, DISH TV, Spectrum TV, and DIRECTV are the best choices.

And if you're looking forward to the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, you're going to want the TNT channel. We'll let you know right now, Sling TV is our number one pick because you can get this service for only $40/month.

We mention Spectrum TV and DIRECTV at the bottom here for a few reasons:

• We want to give you more choices.
• Both offer NBA LEAGUE PASS.
• Spectrum TV is our second choice for cable TV.
• DIRECTV's TV service has second-year price hikes. Check out our review to see if this TV option is best for you.

There isn’t a legal way of streaming NBA games for free, but our advice is to take advantage of fuboTV's free trial.

Xfinity’s Popular TV package has ABC, ESPN, and TNT, but you’ll have to get NBA TV as an individual subscription.

But for $20 more, you can get the Ultimate TV package which has the NBA TV channel in its lineup, along with ABC, ESPN, and TNT for the blacked-out games (your local team’s games that NBA TV doesn’t show).

Or you can also get NBA LEAGUE PASS with Comcast Xfinity, so you won’t have to miss out on another LeBron James slam. 

Order before the first game of the season on Tuesday, October 24 between the LA Lakers and Denver Nuggets.

Xfinity will be the best cable TV subscription option because of its wide availability, solid DVR for recording the games, and no-contract options.

The nice thing about a satellite TV service, like DISH, is it's available everywhere. So if you’re not ready to move away from traditional TV to live TV streaming or don’t have a decent cable TV company nearby, DISH is an excellent choice.

You can order NBA League Pass with DISH, and you can expect NBA TV, ESPN, ABC, and TNT with the America’s Top 200 package. Get this whole package if you're an avid Fantasy player (we see you).

America’s Top 120 Plus doesn't include NBA TV, and you can choose to upgrade to America’s Top 250 if you’d like more movie and premium channels to watch after the games.

DISH Network won’t disappoint any NBA fan.

YouTube TV has NBA TV, ESPN, ABC, TNT, and it offers NBA League Pass (the whole sha-bang). And you can watch YouTube TV on your smart TV or streaming device.

YouTube TV’s price tag for this perfect service for NBA fans is number one out of all of the live TV streaming services in the industry. Watch your favorite team in the comfort of your couch without breaking the bank.

We know you gotta see if the Milwaukee Bucks take home the NBA Championship this year as predicted.

Take a look at our full YouTube TV review to find out more about the unlimited DVR storage, channel lineup, and user intereface. 

fuboTV is known to be one of the best live TV streaming services for sports, and there’s no question about that because you get more than 50 sports channels with the Elite plan.

That’s more sports channels than any other TV service in the industry offers (seriously)!

You can order NBA League Pass on fuboTV, and you have three options for your NBA entertainment:

• The fuboTV Elite plan gives you ABC, NBA TV, and ESPN. But fuboTV doesn't have the TNT channel—an essential channel for NBA fans.
• fuboTV’s Pro plan ($80 per month) has the ABC and ESPN channels, and you can get the Sports Plus add-on ($11/month), which will give you 23 extra sports channels, including NBA TV, NFL RedZone Channel, and regional PAC-12 Networks.

Check out our fuboTV review to see channel lineups, cloud DVR storage info, and other add-ons.

Sling TV will be your cheapest option for live streaming, but it won’t be your most complete basketball package.

The Orange plan will have your ESPN, and both the Orange and Blue packages have TNT, and none of the plans have ABC. Although Orange has ESPN and TNT, you could always upgrade to the Orange + Blue package for 16 more channels. 

And you can order NBA League Pass on Sling TV!

If you'd like NBA TV on your package (of course you do, what are we talking about?), you’ll have to get the Sports Extras add-on for $11 per month. This add-on includes more than 12 sports channels, including the NFL RedZone Channel, MLB Network, Big 10 Network, and PAC-12 Network.

If you want to know more about which channels you’ll get with each of the three packages, take a peek at our Sling TV review.

We sorted through more than a dozen services to help you discover how to watch NBA games live wherever you may be. Get your front-row couch tickets to every single game. Overall, we can say this about each:

• Xfinity TV: Xfinity is the best cable TV option for NBA fanatics because you can get ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, and TNT along with 185 others for $70 per month with the Ultimate TV plan.
• DISH: DISH is an excellent option for NBA fans who don’t want a live TV streaming service or don’t have a decent cable option in the area. You’ll get all four essential channels plus 240 others for $113 per month with America's Top 200.
• YouTube TV: We like YouTube TV the most because it offers everything an NBA fan needs to watch the NBA season from home for $73 per month. You can also record every game because YouTube TV comes with an unlimited DVR storage.
• fuboTV: If you’re an overall die-hard sports fan, fuboTV is the perfect service for you with more than 50 sports channels. You can get these sports channels, including NBA TV, ESPN, and ABC with the Elite plan ($100/month), or you can get the Pro plan ($80/month) with the Sports Plus add-on ($11/month) to get NBA TV. Just remember, this live TV streaming service is missing the TNT channel.
• Sling TV: If you’re looking to save as much money as possible, Sling TV is your choice. You can get ESPN and TNT with the Orange package ($40/month) and get your NBA TV with the Sports Extra add-on ($11/month).

And if you want to know more about other TV providers that could give you your NBA fix, we have a list of the best. 

We put together 8+ years of research and experience to deliver to you the top five providers for the NBA season. We have tested these TV providers ourselves, researched the experience of others, and monitor the daily, monthly, and yearly changes of the each service. 

We take into consideration the following factors:

• Does this TV service have all channels needed for the NBA season and NBA League Pass?
• Price to channel ratio
• Variety of channels
• User experience
• Fees, contracts, or price hikes