Spalding Basketball with black background, Cord Cutter’s Guide to NBA Without Cable

Cord Cutter’s Guide to NBA Without Cable

This year’s NBA season is looking to be an exciting one. Nearly all the experts think it’ll be another repeat of the Cavaliers and Warriors meeting in the NBA Finals. But, don’t crown either team as conference champions yet. There are some top caliber teams in both the East and West that look talented enough to challenge for a spot in the NBA Finals.

During the season, you can watch live NBA games in multiple ways, even if you’ve cut cable. Let’s take a look at your options.

Watch NBA Games Live Through an Antenna

A digital antenna is one of the best tools out there for any cable cutter regardless of what you are trying to watch. Using the antenna you can watch channels like ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX live. The broadcasts get picked up by the antenna and you can watch right on your TV. Plus, they come in high-definition picture that many people argue is clearer than any HD offered by cable companies.

During the NBA season, the antenna will be great for watching any of the games airing on ABC. Each week some of the best match-ups are broadcast by ABC. And, they also own some of the broadcasts for days like Christmas where there are multiple top-tier games in a row. If you can use the antenna to get access to ABC, you’ll likely watch some of the most anticipated match-ups of the year.

Watch More NBA With Streaming Services

There are a few other services out there that give you access to either channels broadcasting games or just the ability to stream NBA games directly from the league. These are much better options than illegal live streams, which despite rising use of ad blockers, can infect your computer with malicious malware (not to mention the whole ethics/legal thing).

Here are some details on your legal options:

Sling TV

Dish Network’s streaming service, Sling TV, has a starting cost of either $20 or $25 per month to stream around 40 channels. The different packages give you the option to watch channels like ESPN, and ESPN2 or FS1, FS2, and regional FOX sports networks. The Orange package for $20 per month also gives you access to ABC broadcast games through WatchESPN. All packages have TBS and TNT. You can find out more in this great Sling TV review.

PlayStation Vue

A similar service to Sling TV, PlayStation Vue offers a starting price of $29.99 per month. It features all the channels mentioned above and has more expensive packages that can include even more streaming channels. To start, PlayStation Vue offers over 50 live streaming channels in its basic package. You can watch with a PS3/PS4, mobile device, or connected device like Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV stick.

NBA League Pass

If you are looking to stream your team’s games and you don’t live nearby then NBA League Pass is a great service. It costs $199.99 for the full season to watch every out-of-market NBA game or $119.99 to watch every game from one specific team. If the game you’re trying to watch is being broadcast in your local market then it’ll be blacked out. That’s the main downside of NBA League Pass, along with the sizable price tag.

There you go, now you know all the different options out there for cable cutters to watch NBA games. Unlike a few years ago, it’s not the end of the world for an NBA fan if they cut cable. Thankfully, you can still watch a bunch of NBA games and not have to pay for the high-priced cable package. In fact, you can even watch college basketball as well. So get yourself a good antenna, try out a few streaming services, and get to watching!