NBA exclusively live on ESPN

September 30, 2010   ·   0 Comments

The countdown to the 2010/11 NBA season gets underway in London next week, when current NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Minnesota Timberwolves face each other live and exclusive on ESPN and ESPN HD from 19:45 on Monday, October 4 in the annual NBA exhibition game.

ESPN’s exclusive broadcast will be and hosted and commentated live from the O2 by former NBA star and ESPN NBA analyst Jon Barry, and ESPN NBA commentator Mark Jones. ESPN will feature a live 15-minute pre-game programme, live half-time show and live post-game from on-site at the O2. After tickets for the hugely popular event sold out almost immediately, ESPN will be the only place UK fans can catch all the action live.

ESPN will also bring fans the other games from the NBA’s European tour as the New York Knicks face Olympia Milano on Sunday, October 3 (televised on delay on the morning of Monday, October 4) and then take on the Timberwolves in Paris on Wednesday, October 6 followed on Thursday,  October 7 by the Lakers’ game against Barcelona.

The games mark the start of ESPN’s live and exclusive season-long coverage of the NBA, which will take in the regular season, the Playoffs and the Finals, as well as the All-Star Weekend. In total, the channel will broadcast nearly 100 games across the season, including the now-traditional Christmas Day double-header – all in high definition.

The NBA regular season begins on ESPN on Wednesday, October 27 with Chicago Bulls, starring Britain’s own Luol Deng, against Oklahoma City Thunder who are led by up-and-coming superstar Kevin Durant.  That is followed on Friday, October 29 by the first home game for the Miami Heat. The Heat were part of the biggest basketball story of the summer as the league’s most in-demand free agent, LeBron James, chose to take his talents to South Beach. It was a move which, along with Miami’s signing of Chris Bosh and re-signing of Dwayne Wade, saw the Heat immediately installed as this season’s team to beat. The “Big Three” will make their home debuts against Florida rivals, and last season’s Eastern Conference finalists, Orlando Magic, live on ESPN.

On Wednesday, November 3, ESPN offers another must-see game as the LA Lakers face the Sacramento Kings, while on Friday, November 5 there will be fireworks as last season’s playoff finalists, Boston Celtics, take on Chicago Bulls. UK fans will also be particularly interested in the San Antonio Spurs this season after they recently drafted British power-forward, Ryan Richards. The Spurs debut on ESPN on Wednesday, December 22 as they face Denver Nuggets.

Tags: ESPN, LA Lakers, NBA