Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. may have left UConn behind, but their NBA schedules still keep them on a collision course often enough to matter.
The first-year pros are now first-round picks in very different NBA homes - Karaban with the Sacramento Kings, Reed with the San Antonio Spurs - and their new arenas, Golden 1 Center and the Frost Bank Center, sit nearly 2,000 miles apart. Even so, they’ll see plenty of one another before Thanksgiving, with Sacramento and San Antonio set to meet four times.
The NBA season gets rolling for Reed first. The Spurs are part of the Oct. 20 season-opening tripleheader, closing the night at 9:30 p.m.
ET against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of the 2025-26 Western Conference finals, which San Antonio won in seven games. Karaban and the Kings debut the next night, Oct. 21 at 10:30 p.m.
ET, on the road against the LA Clippers in Inglewood, Calif.
For UConn fans, the Karaban-Reed matchups are easy to circle. The Kings and Spurs will square off on Oct. 27 at 8 p.m.
ET in San Antonio, then again on Nov. 6 at 10 p.m. ET in Sacramento, Nov. 23 at 10 p.m.
ET back in Sacramento, and April 6 at 8 p.m. ET in San Antonio.
Karaban also gets a familiar face on the San Antonio side in former teammate Stephon Castle, now a starting guard for the Spurs.
Reed and the Spurs will be especially visible on TV this season. They’ve been picked for 34 games without needing NBA League Pass, a reflection of the buzz around young San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama.
The real challenge for UConn fans, though, is catching either rookie in person in the Northeast. If you’re defining that region as Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Toronto, the window is narrow.
Sacramento has just four Northeast stops. San Antonio has six.
Karaban’s Kings won’t show up in the region until 2027. Their first Northeast date is Jan. 27 in Philadelphia at 7 p.m.
ET against LeBron James and the 76ers. After that, Sacramento’s next eastern swing comes in March, when the Kings play three games in four nights.
That trip starts March 16 in Boston at 7:30 p.m. ET, where Karaban figures to hear plenty of ticket requests against the Celtics.
The Kings then visit the Knicks on March 17 at Madison Square Garden and wrap the trip in Toronto on March 19, with both games set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
San Antonio’s Northeast run is spread across two months. The Spurs go to Toronto on Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
ET, Brooklyn on Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Knicks on Christmas Day at noon.
That Knicks game is the opener for a five-game holiday slate, part of the league’s usual Christmas showcase. In March, the Spurs return for three more stops: the Knicks on March 7 at 7:30 p.m.
ET, Philadelphia on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET and Boston on March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
ET.
As for Dan Hurley and the Huskies, fitting an NBA date into the schedule looks like a serious lift. The team’s travel coordinator would need a Herculean effort, or maybe a perfectly timed Big East break in late January, to make it happen. And when the Kings and Spurs are in the Northeast in March, UConn will have another distraction anyway: the first round of the NCAA Tournament is March 18 and 19, followed by the second round March 20 and 21.
In Other News...
Kenji Christian Is Giving UConn's Backfield A Different Feel This Summer
Kenji Christian arrived at UConn with some familiar faces and a familiar expectation: be ready to carry a bigger load. After transferring from Toledo, where he ran for 528 yards and scored five total touchdowns, Christian has spent the summer settling into a backfield that looks different in both personnel and personality, with coaches Jason Candle and Nate Cole now alongside him in Storrs after their own move from Toledo.
The Huskies are counting on Christian to be more than just another addition in a crowded room. His development has been a point of emphasis in camp, and the staff sees him as a top running back option as UConn works through summer practices and a few offensive line challenges. For a team trying to sort out how its ground game will look this season, Christians presence has already given the backfield a different feel. [Read more 🡒]