The NBA’s offseason was defined by team-switching superstars — which meant that when the league released its schedule Thursday, its regular-season schedule was highlighted by those stars’ returns to the cities that once cheered for them.During the 2026-27 season, Giannis Antetokounmpo will return to Milwaukee following a yearslong drama concerning whether he wanted to stay or leave.
Jaylen Brown will play in Boston less than three years removed from bringing the Celtics an NBA championship.And Brown’s new Philadelphia teammate, LeBron James, will revisit Los Angeles after eight years as a Laker.
Whether they will be received warmly or not won’t be known until tipoff.But fans already know now when matchups like that, and other highly anticipated games, will be played.Brown vs.
Tatum in BostonOnly two years after winning NBA Finals MVP for Boston, Brown was traded by the Celtics to division rival Philadelphia in a move interpreted as the Celtics choosing Brown’s former running mate, Jayson Tatum, over him.Brown later said he “threw my phone across the room” after hearing of being dealt.
Rather than hold the juicy reunion early in the season, the league dated his Boston return for Jan.21.
(On Prime Video) That game is one of four between the 76ers and Celtics this season, including Nov.10 (Prime Video), Feb.
7 (NBC/Peacock) and March 7 (ABC).More Sports from NBC NewsBob Iger once found it hard to root for the Lakers.Now he’ll own them.The WNBA is bigger than ever.
But the attention is on anything but basketball.Are the Dodgers ruining baseball? Players union president pushes back on that theoryGiannis returns to MilwaukeeAntetokounmpo’s breakup with Milwaukee, the team that drafted him and where he won a championship in 2021, was long.The NBA didn’t rush his return to Milwaukee, either.
Antetokounmpo’s Miami Heat first visit the Bucks on Jan.28, near the midway point of the season when it will be easier to gauge how successful his depar...