The NBA has finalized contracts with ABC/ESPN, NBC and Amazon that will collectively be worth $76 billion over 11 seasons, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. The next step is for the league’s governors to approve the agreements with ESPN, NBC and Amazon, which is expected to be a formality. In the current agreement, the ESPN and TNT Sports pay a combined total of $2.6 billion on what is a nine-season agreement.
Once those contracts are finalized, they will be sent to TNT Sports where they could possibly match. If TNT attempts to match, they are expected to target Amazon’s package.
Under the new agreements, the NBA will have nationally televised games nearly seen days per week. NBC will have games throughout the full NBA season on Tuesdays. Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, is expected to have exclusive telecasts on Mondays. During the entire regular season, Amazon Prime Video is anticipated to have its other games streamed predominantly on Friday nights and Saturdays. Amazon will also pick up Thursdays following the conclusion of the NFL season.
During the NFL season, it will have its games on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with its Saturday night game being its special ABC window. ESPN will add Friday games after the NFL season.
Proposed National TV Schedule
Monday: Peacock
Tuesday: NBC
Wednesday: ESPN
Thursday: Amazon
Friday: ESPN/Amazon
Saturday: ESPN/Amazon
Sunday: NBC/ESPN
Kawhi Leonard will not play for the United States in the Olympics and will be replaced by Derrick White. The statement from USA Basketball suggested that the decision was made by the Los Angeles Clippers and the national team.
Leonard has not completed a season for the Clippers since 2020 and there were concerns he would be limited for the United States in the Olympics, or it could jeopardize his availability for the start of the season.
“Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olymplcs over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas,” said USA Basketball in the statement. “He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.”
The Utah Jazz turned down the New York Knicks’ offer of two first-round picks for Walker Kessler, reported Ian Begley of SNY.
Begley adds that he does not know what protections the first-round picks had.
Kessler, who is currently with Utah’s Summer League team, has two years remaining on his contract.
