NBA unveils four-game MLK Day slate

AI-assisted summary
• The NBA announced its four-game slate for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 19, 2026.
• The games will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
• Matchups include Mavericks vs. Hawks, Timberwolves vs. Knicks, Thunder vs. Cavaliers, and Celtics vs. Pistons.

While the NBA may go head-to-head with the NFL on Christmas Day, there’s one national holiday the league can celebrate all by itself: Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The NBA will have a slate of four nationally televised games on Monday, Jan. 19, the league revealed on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

The full 2025-26 NBA schedule is set for release later this week, but details have already begun to roll out. The opening day doubleheader. The five-game Christmas Day schedule. The two-game slate in Europe.

The latest reveal is the MLK Day quadruple header that will keep hoops fans glued to NBC and Peacock for the entire day.

Martin Luther King Day NBA games

The league announced both the matchups and the game times for the MLK Day slate:

• Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks , 1 p.m. ET (Peacock)
• Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers, 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC | Peacock)
• Dallas Mavericks at New York Knicks, 5 p.m. ET (NBC | Peacock)
• Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons, 8 p.m. ET (NBC | Peacock)