The NBA just released its schedule for the upcoming 2024-2025 season and it is filled with marquee match-ups beginning on opening day. 

In-line with tradition, the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics will receive their championship rings before tipping off the new season versus the New York Knicks. These longtime Eastern Conference rivals were the top two teams in the East during last year’s regular season and they are once again favored heading into this new campaign.

The second match of the evening pits LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Minnesota Timberwolves. This will be the 39-year-old James’ 22nd season in the NBA, tying him with Vince Carter for the most played in league history. He is heading into the season fresh off the Paris Olympics where he won his third career gold medal and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player–proving that he still has much gas left in the tank.

These four teams playing on opening day will also be suiting up on Christmas Day.

The Knicks will host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the first game of the day. This will be Wembanyama’s Christmas Day debut and there is no better place for it to happen than at the historic Madison Square Garden.

The second game will feature the Timberwolves who will battle the Dallas Mavericks in a match between two of the league’s brightest young stars, Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic. Both are fresh off strong postseason runs where they exceeded expectations and this marquee match-up gives the league a prime opportunity to showcase them on the big stage.

The Celtics will then host another East contender, the revamped Philadelphia 76ers, in the third Christmas Day contest. Philadelphia acquired nine-time NBA All-Star Paul George this past offseason to complement Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey which is expected to give them their best shot at a championship yet. This marks the first of four regular season meetings for these Atlantic Division rivals and gives both teams a perfect opportunity to benchmark themselves before the halfway mark of the schedule. 

The fourth match of Christmas Day–and arguably the most highly-anticipated one–involves recent Team USA partners and longtime rivals LeBron James and Stephen Curry. This will be the fifth time that James and Curry will play against one another on Christmas Day. Both James’ Lakers and Curry’s Golden State Warriors are not expected to be contenders for the 2025 NBA title, though a renaissance campaign from these all-time greats would be enough to catapult their team into the race. 

The night will then be capped off by the Denver Nuggets who will visit the Phoenix Suns for a showdown of two potential Western Conference contenders. These two teams fell short of expectations last season and are raring for an opportunity to bounce back. 

Other notable games in the early portion of the schedule are George’s first game at the Intuit Dome–the new arena of his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers–on November 6 and the return of Klay Thompson, now with the Mavericks, to Golden State on November 12. 

James’ first game as a 40-year-old will be on December 31, the night after his birthday. Fittingly, he will play against the team that drafted him, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The first rematch of the 2024 NBA Finals between Boston and Dallas will be held on January 25.