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LeBron James has moved back to the Eastern Conference, but the Lakers remain a major box office draw for the NBA.

With an almost brand new rotation after a busy offseason that elevated Luka Doncic to the team’s unquestioned leader, the Lakers have the maximum amount of nationally televised games in the NBA this season with 34, according to the league schedule released Thursday. The Lakers open the season against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 on ESPN.

The slate is highlighted by a much-anticipated Christmas Day reunion with James that will be televised at 2 p.m. on ABC. The matchup at Crypto.com Arena will be James’ return to L.A. after the four-time NBA champion signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer following eight seasons with the Lakers. James will play on Christmas Day for the 21st time in his 24-season career, and the Lakers will play on the holiday for the 28th consecutive time.

The Lakers don’t meet James in his new home until March 4, when they finish a four-game trip in Philadelphia.

The Lakers have a frantic start to the season, playing 13 games in the first four weeks. They have three back-to-back sets during the busy stretch from the opener to the end of a three-game trip in Milwaukee on Nov. 11.

The Lakers have 14 sets of back-to-backs, the same as last season, and eight of the sets require travel between the games. Two require time changes: The Lakers play at Minnesota on Dec. 18 before gaining an hour while traveling to Denver to play Dec. 19, then lose an hour between Chicago on Jan. 2 and Toronto on Jan. 3.

The traditional Grammys trip begins in Indiana on Jan. 28 followed by a back-to-back set in New York (Jan. 30) and Charlotte (Jan. 31). The Lakers then continue the seven-game trip by circling back north from Charlotte to Boston (Feb. 2) and Brooklyn (Jan. 4), then heading West with stops in San Antonio (Feb. 6) and Phoenix (Feb. 8).

The reigning NBA champion New York Knicks, Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs and James’ 76ers each have 34 nationally televised games. The national broadcast appearances are spread throughout the NBA’s broadcast partners: ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime.

The final two games of the 82-game season will be determined in December as the NBA Cup midseason tournament plays out.

The Lakers were placed into Group C, which includes the Warriors, Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and Sacramento Kings. The group stage begins at Golden State on Oct. 30 followed by home games against Portland (Nov. 6) and Sacramento (Nov. 20). The final group game is Nov. 27 at San Antonio.

LAKERS’ 2026-27 SCHEDULE

October
21: vs. Golden State, 7 p.m.
23: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m.
25: at Utah, 2 p.m.
27: vs. Portland, 8 p.m.
28: at Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
30: at Golden State, 7 p.m.

November
1: vs. Toronto, 6 p.m.
2: vs. Miami, 7 p.m.
4: at Sacramento, 7 p.m.
6: vs. Portland, 7 p.m.
8: at Detroit, 3 p.m.
9: at Atlanta, 4 p.m.
11: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m.
15: at Phoenix, 1 p.m.
17: vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m.
18: vs. Utah, 7 p.m.
20: vs. Sacramento, 7 p.m.
23: vs. Utah, 7 p.m.
27: at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m.
29: at Memphis, 1 p.m.
30: at Houston, 4:30 p.m.

December
2: at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
14: vs. New Orleans, 7 p.m.
16: at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m.
18: at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
19: at Denver, 6 p.m.
21: vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.
23: vs. Denver, 7 p.m.
25: vs. Philadelphia, 2 p.m.
27: vs. Memphis, 6 p.m.
29: vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
31: at New Orleans, 5 p.m.

January
2: at Chicago, 5 p.m.
3: at Toronto, 4 p.m.
5: at Washington, 4 p.m.
7: vs. Boston, 7 p.m.
8: vs. Detroit, 7 p.m.
11: at Clippers, 7 p.m.
13: at Portland, 7 p.m.
14: vs. Orlando, 7 p.m.
17: vs. Milwaukee, 6 p.m.
19: at Sacramento, 7 p.m.
21: at Golden State, 7 p.m.
22: vs. Sacramento, 7 p.m.
24: vs. Washington, 1 p.m.
26: vs Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
28: at Indiana, 4 p.m.
30: at New York, 5:30 p.m.
31: at Charlotte, 4 p.m.

February
2: at Boston, 5 p.m.
4: at Brooklyn, 4 p.m.
6: at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.
8: at Phoenix, 6:30 p.m.
10: vs. Clippers, 7 p.m.
12: vs. Denver, 7 p.m.
16: vs. Chicago, 7 p.m.
18: vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
26: at Denver, 7 p.m.
28: at Dallas, 12:30 p.m.

March
2: at Orlando, 4 p.m.
4: at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
6: vs. Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m.
7: vs. Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m.
11: vs. New York, 7 p.m.
12 vs. Cleveland, 7 p.m.
14: vs. Golden State, 7 p.m.
16: at Portland, 7 p.m.
17: vs. Phoenix, 7 p.m.
19: vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m.
21: vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.
23: at Miami, 5 p.m.
25: at Cleveland, 4 p.m.
28: at Houston, noon
30: at Memphis, 5 p.m.

April
1: at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m.
4: vs. San Antonio, 7 p.m.
6: vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.
7: vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.
9: vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.
11: vs. Phoenix, 5:30 p.m.

All times Pacific

The Lakers will see a familiar face for its annual Christmas Day game this season.

LeBron James, who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers last month, will be making his return to Los Angeles on Dec. 25 when the Lakers host Philadelphia at Crypto.com Arena, the NBA revealed Tuesday morning in what it called a “sneak peek” of the 2026-27 schedule. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. on ESPN and ABC.

The full schedule will be revealed Thursday.

The league also unveiled its opening week slate, with the Lakers set to host the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 in a game scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

James, entering his 24th season in the NBA, will also figure prominently in the opening week broadcast schedule as the 76ers will take on the New York Knicks on Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden on NBC and Peacock. The game will be James’ first with his new team and will feature the Knicks raising a banner to mark their first NBA championship since 1973.

Two days later, the 76ers will play their home opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that drafted James in 2003, in game that will be broadcast on ESPN.

Three days ago, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert commented on a sexy selfie that pop singer Madison Beer posted on Instagram: “That’s my girlfriend!!”

On Tuesday morning, Beer posted several photos of the two of them together, along with a caption that provided a significant relationship status update.

“Meet my fiancé,” Beer wrote, much to the delight of the 1.5 million people who liked the post within the first hour.

The engagement announcement comes not quite a year after speculation started about a possible romantic link between the two. Last August, Herbert was photographed interacting with Beer on the set of the video shoot for her song “Angel Wings” at a house in Hancock Park.

The New York Post reported that Beer was seen introducing Herbert to crew members and that the two left the set together. They were spotted together multiple times soon afterward, including holding hands in Los Angeles the day after the Chargers’ seasonopener in Brazil last September.

They shared what is thought to be their first public kiss Oct. 5 on the SoFi Stadium sideline before the Chargers played the Washington Commanders. Since going public with their relationship, the 27-year-old singer and 28-year-old quarterback have been seen at Game 3 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium and sitting courtside at Lakers games at Crypto.com Arena.

In April, Herbert posted a photo of them on Instagram and captioned it, “My world!” Also this spring, he co-starred with Beer in the music video for her song “lovergirl” and received Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh’s blessing to miss portions of voluntary team workouts to join Beer on her world tour.

Beer’s post announcing the engagement features several photos of the couple, including one of Herbert down on one knee and another of him carrying his smiling bride-to-be over his shoulder with her ring on display. They each also posted one of the photos on their Instagram Story with Perry Como’s “And I Love You So” as background music.

No information on the upcoming wedding has been released.

Herbert was selected sixth overall by the Chargers in the 2020 draft. A two-time Pro Bowl selection, he has gone 52-43 as a starter and has passed for 24,820 yards with 163 touchdowns and 58 interceptions.

Beer has been nominated for two Grammy Awards — best immersive audio album for “Silence Between Songs” in 2024 and best dance pop recording for “make you mine” in 2025. Her third studio album, “locket,” was released earlier this year.