All NBA streaming options in one place

Just like with hockey and baseball, your options for watching local NBA games this year may vary drastically depending on where you live.

In 2024, there are 23 NBA teams with standalone streaming options, meaning you can watch games on the market without an expensive pay TV package. Six NBA teams also broadcast local games over the air, so you can watch them for free with an antenna (don't miss TechHive's top TV antenna recommendations).

Meanwhile, there are still a handful of pay-TV refusers. In five cities — primarily those served by regional NBC Sports networks — your only legal option is to sign up for a bloated package.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone provided a single page where you can search for your local NBA team and see what you need to watch in-market games for the 2024-2025 season without cable? This is exactly the service we offer here. (If you missed it, here's a similar resource for this season's NHL coverage.)

NBA Streaming Options on the Market: An Overview for 2024-2025

Below is a table showing each team in the National Basketball Association, their corresponding local broadcaster or regional sports network, the live TV streaming services that carry those channels, and whether there are standalone alternatives.

Note that these options only apply to locally televised, in-market games. We'll get to the options for nationally televised games – including most playoff coverage – in a moment. If you find this chart difficult to read, you can also view a version in Google Sheets.

Out-of-market NBA streaming

As in previous years, NBA League Pass lets you watch every out-of-market game that isn't nationally televised. If your favorite team plays in a city other than where you live, you can forego the regional sports options above and purchase League Pass instead. It costs $17 per month or $110 for the season.

What about nationally televised games?

The above unbundled options do not entitle you to NBA games broadcast on national television, including the playoffs and the regular season tournament (now called the “Emirates NBA Cup”). These games will be split between ESPN, ABC and TNT, with a small number of playoff games on NBA television, so it can be difficult to figure out the best course of action.

TNT's basketball coverage is still included on Max and costs $10 per month with commercials or $17 per month without commercials. While Warner plans to eventually charge a $10 per month premium for live sports, that hasn't happened yet.

NBA TV is available separately through NBA League Pass, which also includes games no longer available on the market. It costs $17 per month or $110 for the season.

For the other networks, you could try getting ABC's coverage with an antenna, but that still won't help you with the games on ESPN.

This all brings us to the live TV streaming services that are the best way to bundle everything together:

• Sling TV Orange is the cheapest option at $40 per month (plus an additional $11 per month for NBA TV), but ABC is missing in all but a handful of markets.
• YouTube TV is a more comprehensive option at $73 per month.
• Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month but doesn't offer NBA TV.
• Fubo includes regional sports in many markets, but is much more expensive at $92 per month (or more depending on regional sports fees) and does not have TNT, a major source of NBA coverage.
• DirecTV Stream also includes regional sports for most markets in its “Choice” package, but it's pricey at $115 per month.

Ultimately, you'll have to decide whether to add things together (or even forego NBA coverage) for bigger savings or whether you want to pay more for the convenience of a larger package.

For more help navigating the streaming sports landscape, check out these useful tools. And consider signing up for my Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter to get tips on saving money on streaming every Friday.