The Charlotte Hornets are set for a much bigger national spotlight in 2026-27, landing six nationally televised games after years of barely getting a look.
That’s a notable shift for a franchise that not long ago was grateful for even one appearance on the national stage. This time around, the schedule brings a mix of familiar names, fresh storylines and a few matchups that should tell us plenty about where the Hornets are headed.
The headline event is the first Kon Knueppel-Cooper Flagg showdown on national television. That pairing will draw attention no matter what, and it makes sense that the league put it front and center.
Knueppel and Flagg will always be linked because of how close the Rookie of the Year race was and because they played together at Duke. If Knueppel hadn’t faded late last season, he likely would have taken the award.
Another nationally televised game will bring LaMelo Ball against his former team for the first time. That one has all the ingredients for a loud night.
Ball will almost certainly approach it with extra edge, whether he admits it or not. The bigger question is how the crowd will react, especially in Minnesota’s return trip to Charlotte.
That Minnesota game should be one of the more fascinating nights on the calendar. There will be plenty of people in the building, but the real intrigue is how many fans are there backing Ball and have already shifted their loyalty to the Timberwolves since the trade.
Even then, it never really felt like Ball wanted out of Charlotte. There was a report early last season suggesting otherwise, but he quickly shut that down.
And with Ball, every night already feels like it could go in either direction - he can light up a scoreboard for 50 or grind through a rough shooting night while trying to force the issue.
The Celtics matchup also carries some bite. Jayson Tatum once took a shot at the Hornets by calling them a "League Pass" team, and now the two sides will meet on Prime. The Hornets can appreciate the upgrade, but Boston has had the upper hand in the series, winning eight of the last ten.
The two Kon vs. Coop games are the obvious national draws, and by the time those arrive, there should be a clearer picture of where both teams stand and whether either has a real path to postseason basketball. Knueppel scored 49 against the Hornets in Dallas last year, though he did not play in Charlotte when the teams met there.
The final nationally televised game in the group is the Pacers matchup, and it’s the one that feels a little less obvious than the rest. Indiana is coming off a disappointing season without Tyrese Haliburton, and there’s no guarantee what he’ll look like in his first year back from injury. The Pacers are expected to bounce back, but this could just as easily end up as a battle between two teams scrapping for a Play-In spot.
In Other News...
Hornets Schedule Drop Puts Charlottes New Era Front And Center
The Hornets 2026-27 schedule arrived with more than the usual date-and-opponent reveal, because it also marked the first real public glimpse of how far the franchise has moved into its new era. Six nationally televised games give Charlotte a rare national stage, and the timing fits with an offseason that changed the roster in a major way, including the trade of LaMelo Ball to Minnesota and the addition of multiple players and future draft picks.
Around the league, the front offices work is already getting notice. Hall of Fame writer David Aldridge called it the third-best offseason in the NBA, a sign that Charlottes aggressive approach has registered beyond its own market. Now the bigger question is how all of those moves translate when the season starts and the expected lineup takes shape under a schedule that will put the Hornets in front of a wider audience than they have had in some time. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Face One Costly Hurdle In Jonathan Kuminga Pursuit
Jonathan Kumingas free agency has turned into one of the more complicated roster puzzles of the summer, with the Lakers and Hawks emerging as the most aggressive teams in the chase. The challenge is no longer just convincing Kuminga to land in the right place, but also finding a workable path through contract demands and the hard reality of the cap sheet, especially for Atlanta as it edges closer to the luxury tax line.
That has opened the door for other clubs to get involved as salary movers, and the league has a handful of teams that could help make the math work. Chicago, Brooklyn and Charlotte are among the possible facilitators being discussed, giving the Hornets a quiet but meaningful role in a deal that still has several moving parts before anything can be finalized. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Fans Finally Have Clarity On Watching Games Next Season
After the collapse of Main Street Sports Group, there is finally some clarity for Hornets fans wondering where they will actually be able to watch games next season. Charlotte has agreed to a new one-year broadcast deal with Cox Media Group for the 2026/27 NBA season, with games set to air on WSOC-TV Channel 9 and TV64 in Charlotte, giving the team a more familiar local TV home heading into the fall.
The agreement is not just about over-the-air visibility, either. The Hornets are still finalizing additional broadcast stations and plan to add a direct-to-consumer streaming option, with DAZN among the possible partners being discussed. The structure of the deal, and the reported rights fee in the $7-8 million range annually, suggests the team is trying to balance reach, flexibility and revenue while giving fans a clearer path to follow the season. [Read more 🡒]