LeBron's Sixers hope to spoil Knicks party

LeBron James will visit the New York Knicks on NBA opening night and will play the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day.

James' arrival in Philadelphia has made the 76ers must-see TV, and they are all over the NBA's biggest days of the season.

James will make his 76ers debut against the NBA champion Knicks on Oct 20. The game at Madison Square Garden will be part of a tripleheader, when the Knicks raise a banner to celebrate their first championship since 1973 and James then kicks off his tenure at the final stop of his career.

He will return to LA to face the Lakers on Christmas Day, after Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs head back to New York for an NBA Finals rematch that opens a five-game schedule.

The NBA unveiled those games Tuesday as what it called a "sneak peek" at the 2026-27 schedule. The full schedule will be released Thursday.

The season begins with the Boston Celtics visiting Detroit in a rare 3 pm EDT start for a midweek game. The tripleheader is capped by the Spurs hosting Oklahoma City in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.

Those three games — opening night traditionally has featured two in recent years — will all be televised in the United States by NBC. ESPN then has all five games on Christmas Day.

That schedule features San Antonio at New York, Miami at Boston, Philadelphia at Los Angeles, Oklahoma City at Minnesota and Denver at Golden State.

James' new team was always going to have a prominent place on the schedule, so the NBA struggled to put the puzzle together while waiting for his decision. Commissioner Adam Silver even said last month that he wanted James to announce his decision, because teams and networks were calling to ask when the schedule would be completed.

The NBA's career scoring leader said it would be the Sixers about a week later, joining a team that had already acquired All-Star Jaylen Brown from Boston and is expected to be one of the top challengers for the Knicks' title.

James will play his first home game in Philadelphia on Oct 22 against Cleveland, one of his former teams that hoped to get the 41-year-old Ohio native back for a third time. That will be part of an ESPN doubleheader preceding Denver's visit to Oklahoma City.

Minnesota visits Miami to highlight the schedule on Oct 21, when most teams will open their seasons. The Heat acquired two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee — and tried to bring James back as well — and the Timberwolves traded for flashy point guard LaMelo Ball. Golden State then faces the Lakers to cap that ESPN doubleheader.

The Spurs are also a top draw now behind Wembanyama, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year who helped San Antonio win Game 7 of the West finals in Oklahoma City to end the Thunder's title reign.

This will be his second time playing at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, after he delivered a massive 42-point, 18-rebound performance in 2024 in a loss on his holiday debut. The matchup will be his first time back on the court in New York since the Knicks set an NBA Finals record by rallying from 29 points down for a 107-106 victory in Game 4. They won the title in San Antonio in the next game.

San Antonio will face Houston and former Longhorns star Kevin Durant in a game at his alma mater, the University of Texas, on Oct 23, the back of a doubleheader starting with the Knicks at the Celtics.

Steph a Warrior for life?

The Golden State Warriors have every indication Stephen Curry would like to stay with the team for the remainder of his career, and they plan to make that happen for the two-time NBA MVP.

The 38-year-old Curry is hoping to play at least a couple more years, and has said he wants them to be with the Warriors. He is set to complete a $62.6 million extension he signed for the 2026-27 season in August 2024.

Whether a new contract will get done right away remains to be seen. Curry becomes eligible for a two-year extension on Aug 29, and general manager Mike Dunleavy said: "I'm pretty confident Steph will finish his career here."

"Ultimately, it's his call, his decision, whether that's allowing his contract to run out and move on," Dunleavy said during a video call Tuesday. "Look, if he comes to me and wants to be moved, Joe (owner Joe Lacob) and I will talk it through. We wouldn't love it. But he's earned the right to do what he wants, do those things. But, as far as the messaging or any idea that he would be anywhere else, that's not a thing we're looking at, or he's looking at."

Curry averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds, but was limited to 43 games last season for the Warriors, who will host Denver on Christmas night — playing on the holiday for the 14th straight year.

Closely monitoring his playing time will be a top priority, as coach Steve Kerr returns for two more seasons after signing a new contract in May. Curry missed more than two months with a nagging right knee injury before he finally came back in early April.

He had initially hoped to return after the All-Star break.

"I think with the knee, other injuries and then his age, it's definitely something we have to manage," Dunleavy said.

The Warriors also dealt with season-ending knee injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody that required surgeries, as they finished 10th in the Western Conference. After beating the Los Angeles Clippers in the first play-in tournament game, Golden State lost 111-96 at Phoenix.

The Warriors missed out on signing James this offseason, but brought back Draymond Green on a one-year contract for $27.7 million, and also Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Gary Payton II.

Dunleavy hasn't heard any change of thinking from Curry, who is headed into his 18th NBA season still determined to add to his four championships with Golden State.

The Warriors last won in 2022.

"That's always been what he's discussed. I think that's tracking quite well," Dunleavy said of Curry staying put.

"There's two things I'm confident about with Steph. He really, really wants to win, and he wants to finish his career as a Warrior. I don't think that changes tomorrow, Aug 29th, the start of the season, middle of the season, the end of next season. I think those things are going to be consistent."