You love NBA basketball. You want to save money by getting rid of your monthly cable bill. You can do this! We’ll tell you how.
But first ...
What is cord-cutting?
Cord-cutting is simply getting rid of your traditional cable television/satellite dish service and relying instead on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go for your entertainment needs.
Do you still need high-speed internet service?
Yes. This is a major stumbling block for many would-be cord-cutters. Cable companies tend to bundle cheap high-speed internet with expensive cable packages. If you decline the cable, the price of high-speed internet shoots up. Keep this in mind when making a decision.
Can I watch sports without cable?
Yes! There are several streaming services — some sold by bundlers, some sold by the leagues themselves — that make enjoying sports without a cable or satellite contract possible.
Is it easy?
Bottom line: If you’re a normal NBA fan who wants to watch the big games and playoffs, it’s easy. If you’re a hardcore NBA fan who wants a slow drip of 1,100 games over the next eight months, it’s easy. If you love a specific team and live far away from their home base, it’s easy. If you love a specific team and live near their home base, it’s very complicated.
In almost all cases, becoming a cord-cutter will make watching the NBA less convenient than simply turning on your TV. It’s your call as to whether the trade-off is worth it.
Tell me how to watch the NBA as a cord-cutter.
Okay! We’ll break this down by the type of NBA watching you’ll be doing.
If you just want to watch all the big games, including the playoffs
National NBA games are broadcast on ESPN/ESPN2, TNT, and ABC. Many of the biggest matchups and nearly every playoff game will be found on these networks. So if you’re into watching the games everyone will be talking about, you want access to these networks. There are two good options.
We’ll talk about ABC, where you’ll find Christmas Day games, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon showcases, and the entire NBA Finals, in a moment.
Sling TV: Sling’s Orange bundle gets you ESPN, ESPN 2, and TNT for $20 per month. Boom. That covers ESPN/ESPN’s traditional Wednesday and Friday broadcasts, TNT’s Thursday night double-header, All-Star Weekend, and most of the first three rounds of the playoffs, including all of the conference finals.
Playstation Vue: Vue’s Access Slim bundle gets you ESPN, ESPN 2, and TNT for $30 per month. It has more non-NBA channels than Sling Orange, too, so that might affect your decision.
What about ABC?
ABC is an over-the-air network. As such, you can access it for free with an over-the-air digital antenna, provided you live close enough to an ABC affiliate to pick up a signal. (Check that here.) You will need to buy an antenna, which starts around $25 for low-feature versions and goes up to about $150 for fancier models.
If you opt for Sling Orange, you can forgo the over-the-air antenna and get Sling’s ABC add-on for $5 per month. It would likely depend on what access to other over-the-air networks (NBC, CBS, PBS) you’d want.
You can also use your Sling or Vue credentials to log into the Watch ESPN service, on which you can access live ABC sporting events, including the Finals.
What about NBA TV?
The single biggest problem for NBA fans is the lack of NBA TV on any of the streaming services. You can’t get it on Sling, you can’t get it on Vue, you can’t give the NBA or Turner Broadcasting (which manages NBA TV) money directly to get access. Without a cable/satellite package that specifically includes NBA TV, you are out of luck.
This means you’ll miss all of NBA TV’s regular season broadcasts (a few games per week, including the Tuesday Fan Night selection), plus a small handful of first-round playoff games. You will suffer a severe Rick Fox deficit! But it’s the price you pay to save money on your basketball habit.
Note that if you have League Pass (see below) you can access NBA TV games about three hours after they have aired.
If you want all of the basketball
Is the national TV schedule not enough for you? You want NBA League Pass Broadband, which will give you access to every other regular season game not broadcast by one of the above-mentioned networks (subject to local blackouts). League Pass Broadband also allows you to watch games originally broadcast on TNT, ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, and NBA TV after the fact in archives. (In fact, you’ll have access to archived games until the season ends.)
League Pass Broadband runs $200. If you can stand to wait a couple of months, the NBA usually runs a good deal around the holidays. But note that the national TV schedule is much lighter from opening night to Christmas than it is later on.
If you want to watch just 1 teamThis can go one of two ways.
You live far away from your favorite team’s home court
If you have a favorite team and you want to see all of their games (playoffs included) and don’t live near that team’s city, you’re in luck! You can sign up for NBA Team Pass, a slimmed-down version of League Pass that gives you live access to all of one team’s games for $119. However, unless your team is never on national TV, you’ll also need to grab Sling or Vue service to see those games broadcast on TNT or ESPN/ESPN2, plus over-the-air service for ABC games. These will work for the playoffs too, unless you are a fan of one of those teams unfortunate enough to earn NBA TV duty.
You live near your favorite team’s home court
If you live in the same general area as your favorite team — you’re a Warriors fan in San Jose, a Lakers fan in Anaheim, a Mavericks fan in Arlington — things get much more complicated. You’ll be able to see your team’s national TV games on ESPN and TNT via Sling or Vue no problem. But League Pass won’t help you see the rest of the games due to blackout rules.
Blackout territories are not always intuitive. Check the NBA’s hilariously named Blackout Explorer to find out if you’d be blacked out for your local team’s games on League Pass. If you’re not blacked out, you can sign up for League Pass or Team Pass to get your team’s games.
So what do you do if you are blacked out? You need access to the regional network(s) that broadcast(s) your team’s games. To help figure out what service can get you the right regional sports network, we researched and put together the following list.
NOTE ON SLING: You need Sling Orange for ESPN networks and TNT, but all of the Comcast and Fox sports networks are, when available, on Sling Blue. Keep that mind when selecting a service.
IMPORTANT: You’ll want to make sure you verify that your house isn’t blacked out from receiving those networks via those services before ordering. We cannot emphasize enough how seemingly arbitrary and frustrating blackout rules can be. Also! These services adjust their channel lineups. There’s no guarantee they won’t drop your channel at some point. Also also! The online listings are vague in some instances. When we say it “appears” a service carries a network, we do not have firm verification. This typically applies to the smaller regional Fox Sports Networks. So contact the service provider to triple-check in those cases.
REMINDER: The following list applies for fans of teams who live in or near these cities. If you live far-a-flung, scroll up. This is for local fans trying to cut the cord.
Atlanta Hawks: Fox Sports Atlanta, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Boston Celtics: CSNNE, available on Vue Core. (Sling says CSNNE is “coming soon” to its Blue Service.)
Brooklyn Nets: Games are on the YES Network, available on Sling Blue and Vue Core.
Charlotte Hornets: Fox Sports Carolinas, which appears to be available on Sling Blue. (This RSN does not appear to be available on Vue.)
Chicago Bulls: Two networks — CSN Chicago and WGN — split Bulls games. CSN Chicago is available on Vue Core and is “coming soon” to Sling Blue. WGN is available via an over-the-air antenna in the Chicago area.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Fox Sports Ohio, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Dallas Mavericks: Games are split between Fox Sports Southwest, available on Vue Core and Sling Blue, and CBS affiliate KTXA, available over the air in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Denver Nuggets: Games are on Altitude, which is not offered via Sling, Vue, or anywhere else legally. You’re out of luck.
Detroit Pistons: Fox Sports Detroit, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Golden State Warriors: CSN Bay Area, available on Vue Core. (Sling says CSN California is “coming soon” to its Blue Service.)
Houston Rockets: Games are on Root Sports Southwest, which is not offered via Sling, Vue, or anywhere else legally. You’re out of luck.
Indiana Pacers: Fox Sports Indiana, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
L.A. Clippers: Prime Ticket, available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
L.A. Lakers: Spectrum SportsNet, which is not offered via Sling, Vue, or anywhere else legally without a cable/satellite subscription. You’re out of luck. (Become a Clippers fan and/or move to Wyoming.)
Memphis Grizzlies: Fox Sports Tennessee, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Miami Heat: Fox Sports Sun, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Milwaukee Bucks: Fox Sports Wisconsin, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Fox Sports North, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
New Orleans Pelicans: Fox Sports Louisiana, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
New York Knicks: Games are on MSG Network, which is not offered via Sling, Vue, or anywhere else legally. You’re out of luck.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Fox Sports Oklahoma, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Orlando Magic: Fox Sports Florida, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Philadelphia 76ers: CSN Philly, available on Vue Core. (Sling says CSN Philly is “coming soon” to its Blue Service.)
Phoenix Suns: Fox Sports Arizona, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue.
Portland Trail Blazers: Games are split between CSN Northwest, available on Vue Core, and NBC affiliate KGW, which is available over the air in the Portland area. (Sling’s website says CSN Northwest is coming soon, but a June press release did not list CSN Northwest among the regional sports networks being added.)
Sacramento Kings: CSN California, available on Vue Core. (Sling says CSN California is “coming soon” to its Blue Service.)
San Antonio Spurs: Sixty games are on Fox Sports Southwest, which appears to be available on Vue Core and Sling Blue. Ten other games are broadcast on CBS affiliated KENS or CW affiliate KMYS, which are available over-the-air.
Toronto Raptors: You’re in a pickle if you’re a Raptors fan anywhere in Canada. The games are evenly split between TSN and SportsNet. SportsNet offers a $25 per month streaming service to receive live Raptors games with no cable subscription. TSN does not. There appears to be no legal way to watch Raptors games on TSN live without a cable subscription anywhere in Canada.
Utah Jazz: Games are on Root Sports, which is not offered via Sling, Vue, or anywhere else legally. You’re out of luck.
Washington Wizards: CSN Mid-Atlantic, available on Vue Core. (Sling says the network is “coming soon” to its Blue Service.)
Good luck!