CBS News
How to watch out-of-market NBA games with Sling TV and NBA League Pass
Eric Espada/NBAE via Getty Images
The second half of the 2023-24 NBA season is here, with some of the best games on the horizon. In a season already filled with surprises, the current NBA leaderboard shows new teams at the top of the ladder, which means the next half of the season is anyone’s game.
While LeBron and Steph continue to play at an elite level, new faces like San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Sacramento Kings star De’Aaron Fox are quickly establishing themselves as the NBA’s next generation of superstar talent.
With so much talent on the court and the NBA playoffs in sight, there’s never been a better time to level up your coverage to catch more NBA games, especially those elusive out-of-market games you’ve not been able to watch from home.
Live TV streaming service Sling TV has a special offer for those interested in catching more NBA games, especially out-of-market matchups. You can prepay for three months of Sling TV + NBA League Pass and get access to nationally televised NBA games, plus those hard-to-find out-of-market games and access to local TV programming — all without the cost of a cable subscription. Keep reading for everything you need to know about watching out-of-market NBA games with Sling TV + NBA League Pass.
Does every NBA game air nationally? How to watch out-of-market NBA games
With 30 teams playing 82 games each, not every NBA game gets a national broadcast. Likewise, not every NBA team gets an equal number of nationally broadcast games. If you’re a Los Angeles Lakers fan living out of the Southern California television market, for example, you won’t be able watch the Lakers play with a cable subscription alone unless the game is nationally televised. (You can watch some local games with an HDTV antenna.) That’s where Sling TV + NBA League Pass comes in.
Stream out-of-market NBA games on Sling TV and get NBA League Pass
If you have don’t have cable TV, one of the most cost-effective ways to stream NBA games, and still get access to local programming, is through a subscription to Sling TV. The streamer offers access to 46 channels, including TNT and ESPN, plus local ABC affiliates (where available) with its Orange + Blue Tier plan. But what really sets Sling TV apart is its NBA League Pass offering, which gives you special access to every out-of-market NBA game… live.
Sling TV has a special NBA Prepay Bundle offer for those interested in NBA League Pass: You can prepay for three months of the NBA League Pass basketball streaming service, and get all the channels in the Orange tier, for $135. That works out to $45 per month. (One month of Orange + NBA League Pass regularly costs $55, so this combo plan is the best value.)
One thing to note: Nationally televised NBA games and some out-of-market gets have a three-hour blackout after the live broadcast with NBA League Pass. For nationally televised blackout NBA games, you can use your Sling TV subscription, or watch the game three hours later on demand on NBA League Pass.
NBA League Pass is available as a $15 per month a la carte offering, though you’ll pay just $10 for your first month.
Top features of Sling TV Orange + NBA League Pass:
- There are 46 channels to watch in total, including local NBC, Fox and ABC affiliates (where available).
- You get access to most local NBA and nationally broadcast games at the lowest price.
- All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage, perfect for recording all the biggest games of the season.
- With Sling TV Orange + NBA League Pass, you’ll get access to all the NBA games you want (minus local blackout games), plus network programs airing on NBC, ABC, Fox and more. It’s the most cost-effective way to watch out-of-market NBA games and local network programming.
Key dates for the 2023-2024 NBA season
Here are all the important dates for basketball fans to remember, leading up to the NBA Finals in June.
- February 16-21: NBA All-Star break
- March 1: Playoff eligibility waiver deadline
- March 30: NBA G League Regular Season ends
- April 2: NBA G League Playoffs begin
- April 14: NBA regular season ends
- April 15: NBA Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2024 (3 p.m. ET)
- April 16-19: NBA Play-In Tournament
- April 20: NBA 2024 Playoffs begin
- April 28: NBA early entry eligibility deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
- May 6-7: Conference Semifinals begin (may move up to May 4-5)
- May 12: NBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm (Chicago, IL)
- May 13-17: NBA Combine (Chicago, IL)
- May 21-22: Conference Finals begin (may move up to May 19-20)
- June 6: NBA Finals 2024 Game 1
- June 9: NBA Finals 2024 Game 2
- June 12: NBA Finals 2024 Game 3
- June 14: NBA Finals 2024 Game 4
- June 17: NBA Draft Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline (5 p.m. ET)
- June 17: NBA Finals 2024 Game 5 (if necessary)
- June 20: NBA Finals 2024 Game 6 (if necessary)
- June 23: NBA Finals 2024 Game 7 (if necessary)
- June 26: NBA Draft 2024 presented by State Farm (First Round)
- June 27: NBA Draft 2024 presented by State Farm (Second Round)
- July 12-22: NBA 2K Vegas Summer League (Las Vegas)
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Actor Danny Masterson, who is serving a sentence of 30 years to life in prison, is seeking to overturn his conviction for the rape of two women, with his attorneys arguing he did not receive a fair trial.
A Los Angeles jury found Masterson guilty last year of two counts of rape by force or fear for assaulting two women at his Hollywood Hills home in separate incidents in 2003 — during the same time he was starring on the Fox TV’s “That ’70s Show.” The jury deadlocked on the case involving a third alleged victim. The May 2023 trial followed a mistrial in November 2022.
Masterson, 48, is incarcerated at California Men’s Colony, a minimum- and medium-security prison in San Luis Obispo County.
Cliff Gardner, the attorney handling Masterson’s appeal, filed an appellant’s opening brief Tuesday that alleges witnesses told different versions of their stories over time. The brief also argues that evidence that would have helped Masterson’s defense was not presented due to what Gardner describes as erroneous rulings by the court. Gardner argues in the court filings that those factors support reversing the convictions.
LUCY NICHOLSON / Getty Images
Masterson’s defense argued at trial that he knew both women socially and his sexual relations with them were consensual.
“It is true, of course, that a defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial. He is, however, still entitled to a fair one,” the brief reads. “Danny Masterson received neither. Reversal is required.”
During the trial, one of the women Masterson was later convicted of raping broke down on the witness stand as she testified that he choked her and smothered her with a pillow when she tried fighting back as he assaulted her, according to the Associated Press.
“I could not breathe,” she said, crying.
When the prosecutor asked what she was thinking at the time, she said she feared for her life, AP reported.
“That he was going to kill me,” she said. “That I was going to die.”
She later testified Masterson took out a gun from inside his bedside table and told her to be quiet when they heard voices at the door. She told jurors she was in and out of consciousness through the night.
Masterson and the victims were members of the Church of Scientology, which became a central focus of the case as the women alleged they were stalked and harassed after reporting the allegations to police.
They sued Masterson and the church years earlier in connection with those accusations.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors the church had retaliated against the victims for reporting the the crimes — the rape of a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and assault of a 23-year-old woman, also that year.
“What happened after they were drugged, they were raped by this man over here,” Mueller said, as he pointed across the courtroom toward Masterson during closing arguments. “You have an opportunity to show there is justice. It does exist.”
The church released a statement at the time refuting the allegations.
“The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone, Scientologists or not, to law enforcement,” the statement reads. “Quite the opposite, church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. All allegations to the contrary are totally false.”
In the newly filed brief for Masterson’s appeal, Gardner alleges the victims changed their stories “dramatically” over the years and had a financial motive to do so. Gardner argues in court documents that though the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit seeking damages had expired before the trial, under state law it would be revived if Masterson was convicted of forcible rape involving multiple victims.
Gardner says in the brief that a court ruling prevented evidence related to that argument from being admitted at trial.
He also states in the court filings that some witnesses died before the case went to trial, more than a decade after being reported to law enforcement, and alleges that police lost a tape-recorded witness interview that would have helped Masterson’s defense.
After the six-day trial resulting in Masterson’s convictions, one of the women he was convicted of raping released a statement saying she was relieved he had been found guilty.
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions – relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness – knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” said a statement from one of the women whom Masterson was convicted of raping at his home in 2003.