The 2017-18 NBA schedule was released on Monday, and in addition to the schedule the NBA announced what games will be televised nationally on either ESPN, ABC, TNT or NBA TV.
Despite finishing 26-56 and failing to miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season last year, the Lakers will be amongst the most nationally televised teams this season.
Los Angeles has 35 national T.V. games, which ranks ahead of 25 other teams and behind only the Golden State Warriors (43), Houston Rockets (40), Cleveland Cavaliers (39) and Oklahoma City Thunder (37).
Not counting the NBA TV games, the Lakers still have 23 games that will be broadcasted nationally, with 11 coming on ESPN, 11 on TNT, and one on ABC.
Three NBA teams, the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets, who former Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell now plays for, all do not have a single game this season televised on ESPN, TNT or ABC while the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls each only have one.
The Toronto Raptors, the third seed in the Eastern Conference last season, and an Eastern Conference finalist just two seasons ago, has only five appearances despite still being considered one of the top teams in the East.
The Lakers play in one of the biggest markets in Los Angeles and have one of the largest brands in all of sports, so it makes sense that they have a lot of nationally televised games.
Additionally, they drafted point guard Lonzo Ball, the most talked about rookie on social media since 2013, with the No. 2 overall pick in June. The team should be much improved with the additions of him, Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this past offseason.
The Lakers kick off their season on Thursday, Oct. 19 against the Los Angeles Clippers in a game that will be televised on TNT.
