Must-see games on the Lakers' 2026-27 schedule

The full 2026-27 regular-season schedule for each NBA team was released on Thursday, and while the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be at least slightly worse this season than they were last season, they will still have plenty of eyes on them. They will play a total of 34 games on ESPN, ABC, NBC and Prime Video, which is tied for the most such games with the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Here is a look at some marquee matchups and notable games involving the Lakers -- mark these down on your calendar. LeBron James faces the Purple and Gold Obviously, the biggest news involving the Lakers so far this summer was the departure of LeBron James. He took his time and eventually decided to join a 76ers team that was already stacked. That 76ers squad will come to town on Christmas Day. It will be interesting to see what type of reception James gets in his return to Crypto.com Arena and how many fans may boo him, given how Lakers fans, by and large, never fully embraced him. The Lakers will then be in the City of Brotherly Love to play the Sixers on Thursday, March 4. That game will be the final one of a four-game road trip. Facing the NBA champions Last season, the Lakers managed to defeat the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks at home on March 8, 110-97, even though James didn't play. Before that, they fell to the Knicks 112-100 in New York City on Feb. 1. This season, the Purple and Gold will get their first shot at the world champions on Jan. 30 at Madison Square Garden in the second game of their six-game "Grammy trip." They will then host Jalen Brunson and crew at home on Thursday, March 11. The Green and White The Boston Celtics may not be championship contenders this season after practically donating five-time All-Star and 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the 76ers. But they're still expected to be a quality team, and whenever they face the Lakers, one can almost forget about the records of both teams during that matchup. Los Angeles will first face Jayson Tatum's group at home on Jan. 7. It will then visit the Celtics on Feb. 2, just three days after taking on the Knicks. Taking on the Best in the West This season, the Lakers will have three games each against the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. They will visit the Spurs on Nov. 27 in Emirates NBA Cup group play, but they will not face either team again until they play the Thunder on Jan. 26 at Crypto.com Arena. Los Angeles will then visit Victor Wembanyama and company on Feb. 6, and it will host San Antonio on April 4. It will face the Thunder at home on March 6 and on the road on April 1. All six of these contests will be on national television. Last season, L.A. was 1-3 versus the Spurs and 0-4 versus the Thunder. The Thunder, of course, swept the limping Lakers out of the second round of the playoffs. Luka Doncic Returns to His Old Stomping Grounds Even though a year and a half has passed since Doncic was traded by the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers, it will likely still be an emotional time for him when the Lakers make their lone visit to Dallas to face the Mavericks on Feb. 28. The Mavericks are a different team now than they were in the immediate aftermath of the Doncic trade. Anthony Davis, the main chip they got back for the Slovenian superstar, was shipped to the Washington Wizards midway through last season. They are now Cooper Flagg's team, but P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and Kyrie Irving are still around, as is Max Christie, the other Lakers player they got in return for Doncic. Irving hasn't played since suffering a torn ACL in early March 2025. He's expected to be in Dallas' lineup for the start of this coming season. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Must-see games on the Lakers' 2026-27 schedule