The NBA released the full schedule for the 2026-27 season, giving fans their first chance to project what their team’s seasons might look like. The Los Angeles Lakers, behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as their star duo, were once again put into a primetime-heavy schedule.
The Lakers are always — no matter who is on the roster — a viewership draw. They routinely have multiple games rank highly among regular season and postseason games. So it should come as no surprise that L.A. was given the maximum amount of regular season primetime games allowed by the league’s TV deal, tying them for first in the league, via FanDuel:
THE NBA SCHEDULE IS OUT 🚨
How many nationally televised games does your team have? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/5Qpk0qpl1T
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) August 13, 2026
The four teams tied with the maximum 34 games are the Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, all of which make perfect sense. The Lakers are the league’s biggest brand, while the 76ers now have LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to go along with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. The Knicks are the reigning NBA champions in the league’s biggest market, and the Spurs won the Western Conference behind one of the league’s most marketable players in Victor Wembanyama.
They all have a sizable advantage over the next-highest primetime totals, which include the Oklahoma City Thunder at 30, the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors at 28 and the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves at 27. The Thunder not being in the top group is a mild surprise, although market size may have been a factor there.
Even when the Lakers were winning under 30 games multiple seasons in a row, they still found themselves getting a primetime-heavy schedule. But with Doncic being on the team and looking for his third straight 50-win season with the franchise, the maximum amount of primetime games was a given.
Some people thought James’ departure would change that, especially with the Lakers not playing on Opening Night for the first time since 2018. But L.A. will still be heavily featured on national TV this season, as is always the case.
Top Lakers games to look forward to
The schedule officially being released means we can make plans for the games that we are most excited to see. The full list by Lakers Nation can be viewed here, but some of the circled games on the calendar include matchups with the 76ers, Knicks, Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.
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