It’s one of NBA-heads’ favorite times of the year. The release of the schedule. And this year, the NBA is capitalizing on that level of interest and making it into a bit of an event.
Tuesday night, August 3rd, NBATV will host a one-hour special to announce its opening night, Christmas Day, and Martin Luther King. Jr. Day schedules.
It’s a move that touches on how the NBA is learning to harness every conceivable opportunity to market itself. The challenge, naturally, will be containing any of the games, which annually have been leaked to multiple beat writers around the globe. There’s always a staffer or management source willing to let a reporter know his fall schedule. The NBA will have its hands full trying to contain it.
In fact, NBCSports.com has acquired an advance copy of what the league is trying to schedule for opening night, though they are having some logistic problems.
Opening Night:
7:00 EST: LA Lakers at Miami Heat
9:30 EST: Miami Heat at LA Lakers
Christmas Day:
3:00 EST: LA Lakers at Boston Celtics
5:30 EST: Boston Celtics at Miami Heat
8:00 EST: Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat vs. LA Lakers (and Orlando if they can throw them in)
Now, you may think there’s A. no way that teams can play multiple times in a day and that B. the time-space continuum prevents teams from traveling several hours instantaneously, but we live in a world where Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James have teamed up. Anything can happen in this zany NBA!
We’ll have details on the actual schedule release for you throughout the week.