NBA Schedule Sends Clear Message About Boston Celtics-Jaylen Brown Storyline

The first bits of the NBA schedule, including the opening week of national TV games and the Christmas Day slate, show how the league feels about Jaylen Brown vs. the Boston Celtics

Aug 6, 2026; Camden, NJ, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jaylen Brown poses for a photo during his introductory press conference at the Francis J. Myers Recreation Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The NBA released its opening week national TV schedule and the Christmas Day slate on Tuesday morning, and it’s pretty clear that the league does not find the Jaylen Brown storyline with the Boston Celtics compelling. 

After Brown was traded, there was a lot of speculation that Brown’s return to Boston would be fodder for at least one of the big rivalry showcases of opening night, Christmas, or MLK Day. And while the MLK Day schedule isn’t out yet, the first batch of announcements shows no effort to showcase Brown’s return at all, instead focusing on LeBron James’ impact on the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Celtics open the season on the road, in Detroit, on Tuesday, October 20, at 3 p.m., while Sixers visit the defending champion New York Knicks that evening. 

NBA Opening Day | NBA

Right away, the message from the league is clear: The Sixers and Knicks are the East’s two contenders, while Boston and Detroit are somewhere behind them. The Pistons have a big young star in Cade Cunningham and the Celtics have Jayson Tatum, one of the most popular players in the league, so they get to be the appetizer for the two big games later in the evening. The OKC Thunder versus the San Antonio Spurs is as marquee as it gets right now in the Western Conference. 

Let’s be honest, though. A mid-afternoon game on a Tuesday in October isn’t exactly a massive showcase.

The league didn’t even pair Boston and Philadelphia up for a national TV game later in the week. 

NBA Opening Week | NBA

This is where the LeBron effect is really obvious. Even if we accept that opening night is reserved for what the league is essentially predicting as each conference final, each broadcast partner’s opening night is a big deal to them. So there are four chances to get that Sixers-Celtics matchup on national television. 

Nope. 

Instead, the NBA chose to feature Philadelphia hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers, James’ hometown team and the team most people assumed he’d choose this offseason. The Celtics will instead host the Knicks, which is a big game and a huge early season matchup. But I didn’t think we’d see Mitchell Robinson versus his former team before we saw Jaylen Brown against Boston. And with that game on Friday and the NBA Cup schedule now jamming a bunch of games into November, we can’t even rule out that one or both teams will be on a back-to-back. 

Moving on to Christmas, once again the league chose to feature a LeBron James storyline instead of Brown’s. 

NBA Christmas Day | NBA

The Miami Heat and Giannis Antetokounmpo visit Boston for the 2:30 p.m. game, while Philadelphia plays LeBron’s former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, at 5 p.m. The LeBron story is so big to the league, that they put the NBA Finals rematch at noon on that day rather in one of the prime spots. 

The NBA is about money, and they will put whatever matchup on television they think makes the most money. They and their broadcast partners know what sells and what doesn’t, and Jaylen Brown versus the Boston Celtics very obviously does NOT sell, in their opinion. 

They didn’t give Boston a Christmas Day game last year when he was the featured star, but they did this year with Tatum. In its first batch of games, Boston is facing Detroit, New York, and Miami, not Philadelphia, because the Sixers are occupied against two of LeBron’s former teams. The message couldn't be any clearer. 

Maybe Boston’s two preseason games against the Sixers is taking the starch out of the matchup, but that wouldn’t stop the league from scheduling these other games. I doubt the schedule would be any different if the Sixers had the Cavs or Knicks on their preseason calendar.

LeBron James is still the bigger draw and the bigger money-maker. He sells, so his stories will be told first. Everyone else has to get in line and wait.