OKC Thunder Included on Every Showcase Date for NBA

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of celebrating their first NBA championship. With the crown comes more attention.

As the NBA leaks out its schedule piece by piece ahead of the full launch on Thursday afternoon, the league has made an effort to place the OKC Thunder completely in the spotlight.

Many expected the league to do this a year ago, but better late than never, as the early indications from the trickling out slate are that Oklahoma City will be on National TV more often than not this season.

The NBA has three massive dates per year in the regular season. Opening Night, Christmas Day and MLK Day. In the course of the 82-game schedule, in which half of it goes up against the almighty football calendar and the other half falls with tanking teams pulling levers, these are three dates that even the most casual basketball fan checks into the league.

That is why it is so important to nail these games and try to captivate an audience that perhaps sticks around for the long haul of the season.

Oklahoma City finds itself on all major dates this season, beginning on opening night with Kevin Durant's Houston Rockets coming to town. The Thunder will be handing out championship rings and dropping its first NBA Championship banner ahead of tip-off. This game will also serve as the first contest back on NBC as the league's new media partner.

The fun doesn't stop there, the Thunder's second clash of the season will also be on National TV as part of an opening week double header on ESPN against the Indiana Pacers in a Finals rematch.

On Christmas Day, the OKC Thunder take on a great young core in the San Antonio Spurs as the Thunder –– who were once a staple of the Holiday Hoops session –– returns to the primetime event.

Lastly, the MLK Day schedule was released by the league seeing the Thunder go up against the Cleveland Cavaliers on NBC. A year ago, these were the two best teams in the NBA during the regular season and saw both of its matchups be must-see TV.

OKC Thunder Known Games

• Opening Night, Oct. 21: vs. Houston Rockets on NBC/Peacock
• Opening Week, Oct. 23 @ Indiana Pacers on ESPN
• Christmas Day, Dec. 25 vs. San Antonio Spurs on ESPN/ABC
• MLK Day, Jan. 19 @ Cleveland Cavaliers on NBC/Peacock

The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the most fun teams to watch in the NBA and it is nice to see the league lean into the Thunder's star power, depth and talent despite being in a small market.