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The LeBron James era in Los Angeles officially begins Sunday night, as the Lakers meet the Denver Nuggets for a preseason matchup.
The game is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can still watch a live stream of the game (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including all the ESPN channels. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
ESPN is included in the “Sling Orange” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
ESPN Platforms
Additionally, you can also watch a live stream of the game on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. You’ll need to log in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can still sign up for one of the above options and then use your Hulu or Sling TV credentials to sign in and watch on the ESPN digital platforms.
Preview
The Lakers are perhaps the most mysterious team in the NBA.
They brought in LeBron, who is the best player in the league. That much is simple. But after that, there are question marks abound when it comes to this roster.
Their other offseason signings are…curious. Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee are all solid players who fill specific roles, but they either A) haven’t always played nicely with others or B) have displayed somewhat of a low basketball IQ. If they can gel with LeBron and their new teammates, this will be a really deep roster. If not, it could be a circus in L.A. this year.
And then you have the Lakers’ young existing core. The continued development of Lonzo Ball (considered doubtful to play Sunday as he continues to recover from his knee injury), Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart will all be compelling to watch, and it will also be interesting to see if under-the-radar rookie Svi Mykhailiuk can carve out a small role after lighting the Summer League on fire in July.
All-in-all, there are a lot of potentially nice pieces on this roster to surround LeBron, but it’s still mostly unclear how they will all fit together. Those questions aren’t likely to be answered during the preseason. LeBron, who has logged about a trillion and seven minutes during his career, won’t likely play too much (“between 1 and 48 minutes” according to the super-helpful Luke Walton) during these meaningless games. But it’ll still be worth tuning in just to see him make his Lakers debut.
And, oh by the way, there’s going to be a really fun team on the other side of the court, too.
The Nuggets, who were sixth in the NBA last year in offensive rating, have one of the best young trios in the league with Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic. And after adding Isaiah Thomas in the offseason, they should be even more exciting to watch.
Jokic (finger), Thomas (hip) and rookie Michael Porter Jr. (back) will all miss Sunday’s contest, so that cuts down on the entertainment value a bit, but all things considered, this is going to be about as must-watch as it gets for the preseason.