Are the Charlotte Hornets primetime worthy? Takeaways from 2026-27 NBA schedule
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Apparently, the NBA is keen on the revamped version of the Charlotte Hornets.
After having only three nationally-televised games a year ago, the Hornets are on track to have at least six during the 2026-27 NBA campaign.
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But here’s the caveat: The league’s major television partners appear to be employing a wait-and-see approach following the offseason trade of star guard LaMelo Ball to Minnesota for Naz Reid. That is among the key takeaways from the Hornets’ regular-season schedule in their third season under coach Charles Lee.
None of Charlotte’s half-dozen games slated for national television occur before the calendar flips to 2027, meaning the Hornets must go more than two months before appearing on a non-regional broadcast.
The Hornets’ first national date comes on Jan. 19, 2027, when they travel to Dallas to meet Kon Knueppel’s good buddy and fellow Duke product Cooper Flagg on NBC. The following week, on Jan. 29, the Hornets are in Minnesota on ESPN for Reid’s return and their first up-close look at Ball in a Timberwolves’ uniform.
Charlotte’s home matchup against Boston on Feb. 4 is on Amazon Prime, and Flagg’s only visit to North Carolina comes Feb. 13, also on Amazon Prime.
One of the hottest tickets of the season will be Feb. 15, when Ball and Minnesota are at Spectrum Center for a nationally-televised President’s Day matinee on NBC. It’ll mark Ball’s first game against the team that drafted him in 2020, and a super-charged atmosphere is expected.
Steph Curry — the pride of Charlotte and assistant general manager at Davidson — is in town on Feb. 5, so, go ahead and circle that date. That will be the Golden State Warriors’ lone trek to uptown.
Things could also get a little spooky on Halloween as LeBron James and his new team — the Philadelphia 76ers — arrive in Charlotte. The Hornets also have a home outing on Dec. 21 against James, the NBA’s four-time most valuable player and four-time Finals MVP.
Want to see the NBA’s defending champs in action? That won’t come until the spring. The New York Knicks make one trip to the Carolinas and it takes place on March 22 — nearly two weeks after Miles Bridges and the Phoenix Suns are in town for his initial contest versus the team he played for during his initial seven seasons.
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The Hornets open their 2026-27 slate in Brooklyn on Oct. 21 before returning to Charlotte to host Atlanta in the home opener on Oct. 23.
Charlotte’s schedule also includes two games — one home, one away — between Dec. 4-11 against yet to be determined opponents that will be announced once group play has been completed in the league’s annual in-season tournament.
Aside from the six scheduled nationally-televised matchups, Hornets’ games will be broadcast locally in Charlotte on either WSOC-TV or TV64. Details on distribution throughout the rest of the Carolinas are still being finalized.
Tickets will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Longest homestand: 5 (December 14-21 vs. Toronto, vs. LA Clippers, vs. Oklahoma City, vs. Portland, vs. Philadelphia)
Longest road trip: 6 (January 9-19 at Portland, at Sacramento, at Golden State, at Utah, at Denver, at Dallas)
Most games in a month: 17 (January)
Road/home back-to-backs: 3
Home/home back-to-backs: 2
Home/road back-to-backs: 3
Road/road back-to-backs: 5
Consecutive games vs. same opponent: 0
Scheduled national TV appearances (excluding NBATV): 6 — at Dallas on Jan. 19 (NBC); at Minnesota on Jan. 29 (ESPN); vs. Boston on Feb. 4 (Amazon Prime); vs. Dallas on Feb. 13 (Amazon Prime); vs. Minnesota on Feb. 15 (NBC); at Indiana on March 8 (Peacock)
* — (Totals reflect 80 games since two games remain TBD due to NBA’s in-season tournament)
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