RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 5 sourcesThe NBA’s offseason was defined by team-switching superstars — which meant that when the league released its schedule Thursday, its regular-season schedule was highlighted by those stars’ returns to the cities that once cheered for them. During the 2026-27 season, Giannis Antetokounmpo will return to Milwaukee following a yearslong drama concerning whether he wanted to stay or leave. Jaylen Brown will play in Boston less than three years removed from bringing the Celtics an NBA championship. And Brown’s new Philadelphia teammate, LeBron James, will revisit Los Angeles after eight years as a Laker. Whether they will be received warmly or not won’t be known until tipoff. But fans already know now when matchups like that, and other highly anticipated games, will be played. Brown vs. Tatum in Boston Only two years after winning NBA Finals MVP for Boston, Brown was traded by the Celtics to division rival Philadelphia in a move interpreted as the Celtics choosing Brown’s former running mate, Jayson Tatum, over him. Brown later said he “threw my phone across the room” after hearing of being dealt. Rather than hold the juicy reunion early in the season, the league dated his Boston return for Jan. 21. (On Prime Video) That game is one of four between the 76ers and Celtics this season, including Nov. 10 (Prime Video), Feb. 7 (NBC/Peacock) and March 7 (ABC). Giannis returns to Milwaukee Antetokounmpo’s breakup with Milwaukee, the team that drafted him and where he won a championship in 2021, was long. The NBA didn’t rush his return to Milwaukee, either. Antetokounmpo’s Miami Heat first visit the Bucks on Jan. 28, near the midway point of the season when it will be easier to gauge how successful his departure for Miami has gone. (On Prime Video) Lillard’s Portland homecoming After spending the first 11 years of his career adored in Portland, guard Damian Lillard left the city in a cantankerous exit in 2023 for Milwaukee to give Antetokounmpo what was supposed to be a championship boost. That partnership never lived up to such expectations, however, and Lillard re-signed with Portland last season but never played a game while rehabbing a long-term leg injury. That changes this season. If Lillard is healthy to begin the season as expected, the first home game of his second Portland chapter will take place Oct. 21 against Phoenix. LeBron returns to L.A. The Christmas Day slate includes LeBron James in his first game facing the Lakers in Los Angeles since deciding to become a free agent and joining Philadelphia. (On ABC/ESPN) Trae Young’s first game in Atlanta Once an All-Star whom the Atlanta Hawks oriented their franchise around, guard Trae Young was traded unceremoniously to Washington last season and played only five games with the Wizards before signing a long-term extension with the team this offseason. None of those games in a Wizards uniform came against his former team, though. Young will first play in Atlanta on Nov. 6. How will Memphis welcome Morant? Similar to Young in Atlanta, Ja Morant was once an untouchable trade asset when he launched to superstardom to begin his career in Memphis. Injuries and off-court discipline led the team to unload him this offseason to Portland. Morant will first play in Memphis on Feb. 6 (Prime Video). A Knicks villain returns to New York With big shots and brash confidence, Tyrese Haliburton became the player Knicks fans loved to hate while leading Indiana past New York and into the 2025 NBA Finals. After spending all of last season recovering from an Achilles’ tendon tear suffered in the Finals, Haliburton is set to return to Madison Square Garden against the reigning-champion Knicks on Nov. 22. Expect boos. Three meetings between West finalists The Western Conference’s path to the Finals last season was decided by a seven-game series between Oklahoma City and San Antonio, a pair of young rivals that could determine the conference’s fate for years to come, too. This season they will meet three times during the regular season in games that will instantly become circled on many fans’ calendars: Oct. 20 (NBC/Peacock), Feb. 11 (Prime Video) and March 14 (ABC). Four games between perennial playoff foes It wouldn’t be considered a historic rivalry, but Denver and Minnesota has become one of the best active matchups in the league after meeting in the first round three times in the last four years. They will play four times in the regular season, on Dec. 28 (NBC/Peacock), Dec. 31 (Prime Video), Jan. 27 (ESPN) and March 7 (ABC). The ‘what-if?’ games Few would have considered LeBron James a potential teammate of Stephen Curry when they faced one another during four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015-18. The two nearly joined forces this summer in Golden State, however, when James became a free agent and had the opportunity to ride out some of the last years of the aging superstars’ careers together. Instead, they continue to be on opposite sidelines, with Curry’s Warriors facing James and the 76ers twice, on March 24 and March 31. No. 1 pick vs. No. 2 It’s not just the established superstars that fans will want to watch. The first two picks in the most recent draft, Washington’s AJ Dybantsa and Utah’s Darryn Peterson, will first play Feb. 27. Led by Wembanyama, the NBA takes Europe As the NBA continues to build out its plan to operate a league in Europe perhaps as soon as next year, it will take two regular-season games there. San Antonio’s French-born star Victor Wembanyama will be showcased when the Spurs play New Orleans in Paris on Jan. 14, and again Jan. 17 in Manchester, England. The latter game will mark the first time a regular-season game has been held in Manchester, in perhaps a test run for a market that is among the targets to potentially host an NBA Europe franchise. (Both on Prime Video)
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