NBA season preview 2024-25: Top teams and stars to watch, schedules and more
Here's everything you need to know about the return of the top men's basketball league in the world.
Basketball
Just two months after the USA claimed gold in the men's and women's basketball tournaments at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the NBA has returned for its 79th season, satiating the appetite of hoops fans worldwide.
Olympics.com breaks down the top things to know about the 2024-25 campaign, including schedule dates, the teams and players who could dominate the headlines this season, and how to watch all of the action.
2024-25 NBA season key dates
2024
22 October: Start of the 2024-25 NBA regular season
2 November: NBA Mexico City Game 2024 (Miami Heat vs. Washington Wizards)
12 November: Emirates NBA Cup begins
17 December: Emirates NBA Cup Championship (Las Vegas, NV)
2025
14-16 February: NBA All-Star 2025 (San Francisco, CA)
15-18 April: SoFi Play-In Tournament
19 April: NBA Playoffs 2025 begin
5 June: NBA Finals 2025 begin
How does the NBA season work?
The NBA season consists of a regular season, playoffs, and an in-season tournament.
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Regular season
The regular season takes place from October to April, and each of the league's 30 teams plays 82 games. The NBA's 30 teams are split into two conferences (Eastern and Western), with each conference containing three divisions of five teams each.
In-Season Tournament
The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup will take place from 12 November through 17 December (i.e. in the middle of the regular season), with the semifinals on 14 December and the championship on 17 December. The top three teams from the previous season's record are randomly assigned to each of the six groups, which are made up of three groups per conference.
Playoffs & NBA Finals
The playoffs begin in April and extend into June, culminating in the NBA Finals. The playoffs feature the 12 teams with the best records from the regular season (the top six teams from the East and West); four additional teams are added to the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament, which determines the 7th and 8th seed spots.
Each round of the playoffs (first round, second round, semi-finals, finals) uses a best-of-seven series format. The winner of the Eastern Conference faces the winner of the Western Conference in the NBA Finals to determine the NBA champion for the season.
Three teams to keep an eye on this NBA season
The championship favourites: Boston Celtics
It's hard to envisage a scenario in which the Boston Celtics don't return to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics' roster for the new season is essentially unchanged from the one that strolled to 64 regular season wins and the title in June — Boston's first since 2008 and 18th overall, giving the Celtics the most championships in NBA history.
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics holds up the Larry O'Brien trophy after Boston's 106-88 win against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Five of the 2024 NBA Finals.
The Celtics also had three representatives on the USA men's team that won Olympic gold at Paris 2024 this summer (Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum and Derrick White) — more than any other NBA franchise — further emphasising the depth of talent on Boston's squad. And that's without mentioning Jaylen Brown (the 2024 Finals MVP who was controversially omitted from the Olympic team by managing director Grant Hill), 2018 All-Star Kristaps Porziņģis and five-time All-Star Al Horford.
This is a team built for multiple championship runs, and looking around the league there doesn't appear any challenger who could supplant them from the NBA apex —for now.
The challengers: Oklahoma City Thunder
Olympics.com were initially going to select the Thunder for the next category as underdogs, but the cat's out of the bag when it comes to OKC.
As part of the annual NBA.com GM survey, general managers from around the league ranked the Thunder as the team with the second-highest chance to win the title behind the Celtics.
That backing comes after a season in which OKC posted a 57-25 record (1st in the Western Conference) and advanced to the playoff semi-finals before losing to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.
Luguentz Dort #5, Jalen Williams #8, Chet Holmgren #7 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite the bitterness of their playoff exit, the 2023-24 campaign represented a tremendous leap for the Thunder, who reached the postseason for the first time since 2020 and earned the third-best regular season in franchise history since the team relocated to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.
It also provided invaluable experience for this young OKC team (with an average player age of 24.12 years, the Thunder are the second-youngest team in the NBA) and, in particular, 2023-24 MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (more on him below), who averaged 30.1 points per game (on 53.5 per cent shooting.
Most importantly, the Thunder got noticeably better in the off season through the acquisitions of 2020 champion and defensive stalwart Alex Caruso and double-double machine Isaiah Hartenstein.
With Luguentz Dort and 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up Chet Holmgren providing physicality and length inside the paint, the Thunder can now boast arguably the best defensive team in the entire league.
Throw in the NBA's reigning Coach of the Year, Mark Daigneault, and the Thunder have their best chance to reach the Finals for the first time since 2012.
The underdogs: New York Knicks
The Knickerbockers of New York had their best season in decades in 2023-24, winning 50 games for the first time since 2012-13 before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals (incidentally, the Knicks also lost to the Pacers in the semi-finals in 2013).
So while the Knicks had a great regular season, their surprising exit to the Pacers means that plenty of fans and media alike still don't see them as true title contenders.
However, the Knicks got stronger in the offseason by adding Mikal Bridges and four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns through trades, giving Jalen Brunson (their franchise star) two new weapons to work with.
While the pressure surrounding the Knicks is always high in the Big Apple, the fact that the media are overlooking them as a Finals team could be a great source of motivation for head coach Tom Thibodeau and his players.
NBA stars to watch in 2024-25
The NBA is arguably the most talented it's ever been, with all 30 teams boasting at least one All-Star calibre player. That makes it hard to narrow down the list of players you should watch this season to a select few.
So here is Olympics.com's pick of the bunch for 2024-25.
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
The 7-foot-4 Frenchman followed up his sensational Rookie of the Year debut in the NBA last season with a special effort at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, leading France in points (15.8), rebounds (9.7), assists (3.3), steals (2.0) and blocks (1.7) per game as Les Bleus claimed silver after a titanic battle against the USA in the gold medal game.
Wembanyama has already warned his opponents that he's "learning" and they should be "worried", which is as sure a sign as any that the 20-year-old means business heading into the new season. If you need further evidence of just how special he is, 77 per cent of NBA GMs chose Wembanyama as the player they would want to sign if they were starting a franchise today.
Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
The Slovenian superstar reached the NBA Finals for the first time in his career last season, posting an absurd line of 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists as the Mavericks fell to the Celtics in five games.
Doncic is now a perennial First Team All-NBA selection and MVP favourite, and a delight to watch on a nightly basis.
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
James is doing his best to show that the old adage of Father time being undefeatable may not be as inevitable as we thought.
LeBron James #23 and Bronny James #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers
The soon-to-be 40-year-old (James turns 40 on 30 December) won his third Olympic gold medal at the Games this summer, following on from a season in which he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds for the Lakers. He'll also be a part of history when he takes to the court alongside his son Bronny James this season; the duo will be the first father and son to play together for the same team in a regular season game in the NBA (they've already played together in the preseason).
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Jokic earned his third NBA MVP award last season, but was unable to bring the Nuggets back to the Finals after helping Denver win its first title in franchise history last year.
But the 29-year-old did find the podium at Paris 2024, leading Serbia to the bronze medal as he displayed the uncanny passing ability, rebounding prowess and ease of scoring that makes him one of the most entertaining players in the world.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Antetokounmpo made the most of his Olympic debut at Paris 2024, averaging 25.8 points on 67.8 per cent shooting as Greece finished 8th.
At 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, the aptly named "Greek Freak" is one of the most physically imposing players in the world and his drives to the basket are something to behold.
He'll now work to lead the Bucks back to the Finals after winning the title in 2021.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Gilgeous-Alexander was another NBA star who got their first taste of Olympic basketball at Paris 2024 earlier this year, and while Canada failed to replicate their stunning podium finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup (winning bronze), a quarter-final exit to eventual silver medallists France is nothing to be ashamed of.
Gilgeous-Alexander, for his part, was every bit as spectacular as he was in the NBA in 2023-24, averaging 21 points to go along with 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks and 4 assists per game. The 26-year-old is so good, in fact, that he's the NBA GM's favourite to collect the NBA MVP award this season with 40 per cent of the vote.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of Team Canada.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards is touted as one of the new "faces" of the NBA, and it's easy to see why. The 6-foot-4 guard boasts a 41.5" vertical jump and an extensive repetoire of shifty moves which means he is likely to produce a highlight-worthy dunk in every game he plays.
Edwards was another member of the U.S. squad that won gold in Paris, and he will look to bring his Minnesota Timberwolves team to the NBA Finals after reaching the Western Conference Finals last season.
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
The Celtics have an embarrassment of riches on their team, and in truth, Jaylen Brown is just as deserving of being a player to follow this season as Tatum.
As it is, we're excited to see what the 26-year-old Tatum can do for an encore after winning an NBA championship and Olympic gold in 2024. The five-time All-Star received his third consecutive All-NBA First Team selection last season on the strength of per game averages of 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors
If there was any talk of Curry being "cooked" following the Warriors' disappointing 10th-place finish in the West last season, Chef Curry swiftly put that notion to bed at Paris 2024.
The 36-year-old went nuclear in the gold medal game for the USA, draining four three-pointers in the final two and a half minutes to stun a partisan crowd inside Bercy Arena and shut down a promising French comeback.
Make no mistake — Curry is still the best shooter in the NBA, and must watch television every night.
How can I watch the NBA?
Worldwide audiences can stream every game of the NBA through the NBA League Pass app, available on mobile and desktop.