he NBA on NBC has officially returned to primetime after a 23-year absence, bringing the high-stakes energy of “Sunday Night Football” to the basketball court. The inaugural Sunday Night Basketball doubleheader on February 1, 2026, marks the beginning of an eight-week residency on NBC and Peacock.
Here are three key things to know about this landmark broadcast event:
- Iconic Matchups at Historic Venues: The doubleheader tipped off with a can’t-miss matchup. LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers visited Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks at famed Madison Square Garden. The image shows Lakers forward LeBron James (#23) with the ball against Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns (#32). The second game featured a high-powered Western Conference battle between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets, featuring a clash of recent MVPs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić.
- A New Primetime Tradition: Modeled after its NFL counterpart, “Sunday Night Basketball” takes over the Sunday night slot from February through early April. Each broadcast begins with Basketball Night in America, a dedicated one-hour on-site pregame show. To complete the “Big Game” feel, music icon Lenny Kravitz stars in the new show open, providing the same level of spectacle fans expect from Sunday nights on NBC.
- Next-Gen Viewing Features: Fans watching on Peacock have access to exclusive interactive viewing tools. These include Performance View, an on-screen overlay for real-time player stats, and ScoreCard, a gamified experience where viewers can earn points based on live game events. Additionally, the “On the Bench” feature places an analyst courtside with each team to provide intimate, real-time insights during the action.
