The successes keep coming for the NBA in its new partnership with NBC and its embrace of broadcast television.
New numbers from NBC Sports show that its presentation of the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Boston Celtics on Sunday Night Basketball last weekend was the most-watched NBA regular season game in nearly a decade.
The game averaged 5.6 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, giving it the highest viewership of any regular season NBA game since Kevin Durant’s return to Oklahoma City in 2017. That matchup aired on ABC almost exactly nine years ago.
Celtics-Lakers on NBC Sunday Night Basketball is also the most watched NBA regular season game since 2017 (excluding Tip-Off and Christmas) — Kevin Durant’s return to Oklahoma City (ABC, 2/11/17) https://t.co/ZEozwDFwNQ
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) February 25, 2026
In ABC’s Saturday primetime slot, the Warriors-Thunder clash in 2017 drew an average of just over 6 million viewers.
Viewership has been strong for the NBA on NBC all season. Data recently provided to Awful Announcing had NBA games averaging 2.6 million viewers on the broadcast network so far this season.
By moving its biggest games to broadcast television and streaming, the NBA appears to have gotten in front of more fans. On Sundays alone, the league now has premier games on ABC and NBC back to back. Non-cable subscribers can find games on ESPN Unlimited, Prime Video and Peacock.
Despite a high level of parity across the NBA this season and numerous high-profile injuries, viewership is trending in the right direction headed toward the postseason in about six weeks.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.