The NBA officially returned to NBC on Tuesday night to kick off the 2025-26 NBA season. With the NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Golden State Warriors , opening night was a highly anticipated event for the NBA, which made its return to NBC for the first time since 2002.

The night did not disappoint and the numbers back it up.

The NBA's return to NBC saw the largest “NBA Tip-Off” doubleheader audience since 2010 — excluding 2011 opening day games on Christmas Day following the lockout — with an average of 5.6 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, the NBA announced on Thursday.

The 2010 NBA Tip-Off doubleheader (5.7 million viewers) featured LeBron James’ debut with the Miami Heat in the opener.

Data co

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