How to watch NBA 2023/24 – live stream basketball games online and on TV

Once or twice a generation, a rookie emerges fully-formed and primed to make NBA's established gods look like yesterday's news. Enter 7ft 4in teenager Victor Wembanyama – the most fascinating prospect since LeBron James. You can make up your own mind as the NBA regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 24. We'll show you how watch every game live below. 

So what should you look out for this season? Well, some pundits are already tipping 'Wemby' to emulate Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld by winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP. Either way, Spurs are going to be appointment viewing this season.

Nuggets fans may feel aggrieved that they're being upstaged by a rookie following their first ever NBA championship, but it's very much in keeping with the way things have gone since Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led them to the title. The starrier teams will always demand more attention, and that suits Denver just fine.

Take the Bucks, Suns and Celtics, for instance, each of whom has recruited at least one marquee name to don the red cape come the latter stages of the season. 

Milwaukee is banking on Dame Lillard to form an unstoppable partnership with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Phoenix has a Big 3 of Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, while Boston has jettisoned Marcus Smart and Robert Williams for Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.

If you're a keen hoops fan, you'll want to know how to watch NBA live streams this season. Full info below, including how you can tune in from anywhere and get around those pesky blackout restrictions.

How to watch the NBA in the US

In the US, NBA games will be nationally televised on ESPN, TNT, ABC, ESPN3 and NBA TV during the 2023/24 season.

ABC is one of the US' main four broadcast networks that are available to anyone with a traditional pay-TV subscription or a TV antenna. If you've moved away from traditional cable though to a live TV streaming service, ABC is available on popular services such as DirecTV, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.

ESPN and TNT, meanwhile, are premium cable channels, but are widely available on both traditional cable TV subscriptions (double check with your local provider) and live TV streaming services. If you're looking for the latter, ESPN is available on DirecTV, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV (specifically Orange) and YouTube TV; TNT is available on DirecTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV (both Blue and Orange) and YouTube TV.

Finally, there's NBA TV, which is not available as a standard channel on DirecTV, FuboTV, Sling TV or YouTube TV, but can be added as part of an add-on bundle on all of those services. You can also access NBA TV broadcasts through NBA League Pass, with plans costing $14.99 per month or $99.99 per season.

How to watch the NBA in the UK

It's all change for basketball fans in the UK this season, with TNT Sports (formerly Eurosport and BT Sport) picking up the rights to the NBA. The broadcaster will air at least nine games during each week of the regular season, with live streaming available through Discovery Plus.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 per month, and also has exclusive coverage of the Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League, MLB and MotoGP.

A subscription also unlocks access to Discovery Plus' factual shows, as well as all of the sports previously shown by Eurosport, such as Premier League, tennis and cycling.

Hardcore fans may instead want to look at NBA League Pass, which costs £14.99 per month or £99.99 for the season, after a 7-day free trial, and shows every single game live.

How to watch the NBA in Australia

ESPN has the rights to air the NBA in Australia, so if you want to catch the action, you'll want a Foxtel Sports subscription or access to Kayo Sports.

This latter is your cheapest option, with plans costing as little as $25 per month, and and unlocking access to all of Foxtel's live sports coverage. The catch is that it's streaming only. You can find Kayo Sports here.

To watch on TV, you'll need Foxtel Sports. This costs $77 per month, though there's a discount if you commit to a year's plan which brings it down to $58.60 each month. Some of Foxtel's top-end bundles, like Premium or Platinum Plus, also include sports streaming but they cost more than the Sports package. Use Foxtel's app to stream instead of watching on TV if you'd rather watch online.

You can find all of the Foxtel plans here.

There's also NBA League Pass, which live streams every single game, with a subscription costing either $21.99 per month or $154.99 for the season, after a free 7-day trial.

How to watch the NBA everywhere else

If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the NBA, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 

A VPN lets you change your IP address to make it appear as if you're in a different location, meaning you can tune in to your favorite sports like the NBA from anywhere, as well as get around annoying blackout restrictions. Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.

ExpressVPN is one of the simplest and most affordable ways to watch what you want from anywhere you want to watch it. 

It's straightforward and easy to use, has great security, is available on loads of streaming devices and, best of all, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out 100% risk-free.