2025-26 regular season schedule: 3 national TV matchups between Thunder and Lakers

Providing an oasis of content in an otherwise drought, the NBA recently dropped its entire 2025-26 regular season schedule. Less than two months remain until the six-month campaign starts. Teams across the league found out when and where they'll play their opponents.

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to enjoy their NBA championship. They're the consensus favorite to repeat as the Larry O'Brien trophy owners. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed contract extensions this offseason to stick around for the foreseeable future.

Examining the Thunder's 2025-26 regular season schedule, the NBA has fully bought into the champions. They're tied with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks for most national television appearances at 34.

In fact, the Thunder and Lakers will square off three out of four times on national television. That's how much stock the schedule-makers have bought into between those two teams being foes. It's an easy bet to make. Even with switching teams, Luka Doncic and OKC continue to be tied at the hip.

The Dallas Mavericks were the last team to send the Thunder home from the playoffs in 2024. Doncic was the face of their franchise when that happened. After the shocking trade deadline trade, both teams split an entertaining two-game set in April 2025 during the final weeks of the last regular season.

Even though LeBron James is 40 years old, he's still a primetime attraction. How he looks against the NBA champions is always going to be something schedule-makers want to see at a national stage. Expect the Lakers to be a popular team for possible threats against the Thunder.

The Thunder will host the Lakers for the first matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 12. It will be on ESPN. It'll be the next chapter of the growing textbook rivalry between Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic as two of the five best players.

After that, the Thunder will travel to face the Lakers on Monday, Feb. 9. It will be on Peacock. Gilgeous-Alexander will get a chance to show out at Los Angeles' historic arena. This should draw good ratings for the brand-new NBA streaming platform.

The next two matchups won't occur until the final two weeks of the regular season. That means there's no guarantee either side plays at full strength for rest and seeding reasons. That said, the complete opposite could be true. One or both sides could treat the regular-season contests as a pseudo-playoff game due to the tight standings.

The Thunder will host the Lakers on Thursday, Apr. 2. It will be on Amazon Prime. It won't take long for them to play for the fourth time. The Thunder will travel to the Lakers to play on Tuesday, Apr. 7. It will be locally aired. Sandwiched between those two games for OKC is a date against the Utah Jazz.

The Thunder and Lakers have plenty of household names. There's zero lack of superstar power. Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic, Williams, James and Holmgren are widely considered five of the best 50 NBA players. With the first two usually in the top-five conversations.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2025-26 regular season: 3 national TV games between Thunder and Lakers