NBA on NBC Crew Lists OKC Thunder Opening Night Game as ‘Most Anticipated’

Oklahoma City has the carpet rolled out for them in regard to the national television schedule for this upcoming season.

This Thunder team is tied for the most nationally televised games across the league and is by far the smallest market getting this much attention.

From opening night, to Christmas Day, Rivals Week, and MLK Day action, Oklahoma City will be on the big screen all season long.

This Thunder team will also have the honor of debuting the new-look NBA on NBC reboot that many fans across the league are excited about.

The crew features many prominent names in the broadcast booth including former players and Hall of Famers.

This week, NBC asked the crew which game was the most anticipated game of the season, and Oklahoma Citys opening night matchup against the Houston Rockets topped the list in overwhelming fashion.

Six of the crews seven members that were asked all chose Thunder-Rockets opening night as the game carrying the most anticipation.

Ironically, the only member who didnt vote Thunder-Rockets was Noah Eagle, who went with another game featuring Oklahoma City in the Thunders-Cavaliers showdown MLK Day.

The Thunder-Rockets matchup is so intriguing for a lot of reasons, and plenty of the new crew touched on them.

For starters, its ring night.

A fan favorite viewing event across the NBA, Oklahoma City will receive its championship rings in front of a crazy home crowd ready for the team to try and go back-to-back.

The environment in the arena will be just like the last time we saw it in the NBA Finals.

Speaking of the environment, it always feels like theres something different in the air when Kevin Durant comes back to town.

As Reggie Miller touched on, Durants return on ring night is poetic in all the ways, and adds another huge storyline to the game.

The other obvious storyline is the Thunder-Rockets rivalry being renewed these two teams have been on similar timelines.

Oklahoma City and Houston had strong battles back in the 2015-2020 era of basketball, and now, the two teams are back at the top at the same time.

Both young, hungry squads with rising stars and lots to prove although the Thunder outgrew that category.

Plenty of the Thunder's games this season will carry great anticipation, but from a player perspective and a team perspective, the NBC crew got it right.

There are so many storylines for this loaded matchup heading into Opening Night, and it makes it even better that it's two of the best teams in the NBA..

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