NBA Releases Full 2021-22 Schedule, Jewel Events, Key 75th Anniversary Highlights
Friday, August 20, 2021 at 03:49PM By Barry Janoff
August 20, 2021: Following the NBA’s recent release of its national TV game schedule across TNT, ESPN and ABC for Kia NBA Tip-Off 2021 and Christmas Day, the league today unveiled its full 2021-22 regular 75th Anniversary Season,
The 2021-22 regular season, which comprises 82 games per team, is scheduled to begin Oct. 19 and conclude on April 10, 2022.
During the season, the league will name a 75th Anniversary Team with the all-time top 75 players.
Throughout the season, the league said it would feature "NBA 75 Classic Matchups to celebrate the teams, players, coaches and moments that have defined 75 years of NBA basketball."
Among them:
• NBA TV will present a game between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors on Monday, Nov. 1, marking the 75th anniversary of the league’s first regular-season game, which was played between the Knicks and Toronto Huskies on Nov. 1, 1946.
• The three franchises that have played in every NBA season — the Knicks, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors (which began as the Philadelphia Warriors) — will face each other across three nationally televised games during a five-day stretch in December.
• On Jan. 7, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Atlanta Hawks on ESPN, which will take place 50 years to the day (Jan. 7, 1972) that the Lakers defeated Atlanta for their 33rd straight victory, which remains the longest winning streak in NBA history.
A TNT doubleheader will highlight the Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule on Monday, Jan. 17.
The Memphis Grizzlies will host the Chicago Bulls in Memphis’ 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Game.
The Milwaukee Bucks will later face the Hawks in Atlanta, followed by a game between the Utah Jazz visiting the Lakers (NBA TV).
TNT will air 18 Tuesday doubleheaders and 12 Thursday doubleheaders during the 2021-22 season; ESPN will televise 21 Wednesday doubleheaders and 13 Friday doubleheaders.
The ABC Sunday Showcase series will return Feb. 13 when the Hawks visit the Celtics (2 p.m. ET).
The NBA on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV will present flexible scheduling throughout the regular season to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience.
The 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament is scheduled for April 12-15 , followed by the start of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on April 16.
TNT will present the 2022 Western Conference Finals and ESPN/ABC will present the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.
ABC will televise the NBA Finals 2022 presented by YouTube TV, its 20th consecutive season as the exclusive home of the league’s championship series.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled to be played on June 2, with June 19 Game 7 (if necessary).
The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 23.
In 2021-22, Wilson returns as the league’s official game ball (replacing Spalding) for the first time since the 1983 NBA Finals, having been used during most of the NBA’s first four decades.
Nike will celebrate NBA 75 with diamond-embellished jersey details and new Classic Edition and City Edition uniforms across the league.
The commemorative NBA 75 logo will appear throughout the season on courts and official NBA merchandise, inside arenas and in original broadcast, digital and social media content; and integration around marquee events such as NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.
Cleveland last hosted NBA All-Star in 1997, when the league celebrated its 50th Anniversary Season.
NBA 75 will see a continuation of the “That’s Game” campaign, which launched at the start of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
According to the league, “The campaign will honor the past, present and future of the NBA across the court, community and culture.”
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