NBA season to tip off with champion Nuggets hosting Lakers - ESPN

The 2023-24 season will tip off in Denver, where the defending champion Nuggets will raise a banner to the rafters of Ball Arena for the first time in team history before playing the Los Angeles Lakers.

The league released its schedule for next season on a special episode of ESPN's «NBA Today» on Thursday afternoon.

Denver's title defense will begin Tuesday, Oct. 24 against the team that they vanquished in the Western Conference finals. In what will be the 21st season of LeBron James' legendary career, the Lakers are hoping to return to the Finals for the first time since winning the title in 2020.

That game, as opposed to an Eastern Conference game as is typically the case, will open the schedule this season because the NBA has another massive rivalry game following it. The new-look Phoenix Suns, showcasing Bradley Beal alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, will visit the Golden State Warriors and Chris Paul, who will be playing his first game for his new team against his former one.

The 100 games spread across ABC and ESPN this regular season will begin Oct. 25, when the Boston Celtics visit Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks. That will be followed by French phenom Victor Wembanyama making his NBA debut at home for the San Antonio Spurs against fellow European sensation Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.

On Oct. 26, the Philadelphia 76ers will open their season on TNT under new coach Nick Nurse — and with the possibility of the James Harden situation still hanging over the franchise — at the Milwaukee Bucks. New Bucks coach Adrian Griffin, who is Nurse's former assistant, will be making his head coaching debut after taking over for Mike Budenholzer this summer.

That game will be followed by another