The first live NBA match sees the LA Lakers take on the LA Clippers in the ‘City of Angels derby’ early on the morning of Friday 31 July 1am LIVE on ESPN 2, while the evening of the same day sees the Brooklyn Nets face Orlando Magic 6:30pm LIVE on ESPN 2 on DStv Channel 219.

The Lakers, of course, are led by LeBron James, a player NBA legend Scottie Pippen sees as the “most dominant player” and a man who could lead the team to the first Championship since 2010.

“I have to put my trust in the Lakers,” Pippen said. “At the beginning of the season I was really focused on the Clippers thinking that they had all the momentum. But I think that with some of the issues that we’ve been hearing coming out of the bubble, I see that LeBron James’ leadership, his ability to manage players is gonna be a winning way here”.

“Because he’s the most dominant player in our game right now. In terms of having no Kevin Durant in the game LeBron James is the most dominant player. I think he’s that X factor that lead his team to a championship through his leadership and through his athleticism. Obviously, he has Anthony Davis on his team as well.”

The morning of Sunday 2 August sees the LA Clippers back in action as they take on the New Orleans Pelicans 10pm LIVE on ESPN 2, while evening of the same day sees the Boston Celtics face the Portland Trail Blazers 7:30pm LIVE on ESPN 2.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens will be glad not to be coming up against Oklahoma Thunder’s Steven Adams, who dominated his side in a recent pre-season game.

“You know, we’re gonna have to do better as a team. Obviously Enes [Kanter] did a pretty good job when he was in there, but he didn’t play against Adams a ton. He obviously hurt us. That strength and that physicality is a problem and good news is I don’t think nobody gets any stronger than Steven Adams.”

The evening of Tuesday 4 August is headlined by the Milwaukee Bucks v Brooklyn Nets 5:30pm LIVE on ESPN 2, while early Wednesday 5 August features the Portland Trail Blazers taking on the Houston Rockets 1:00pm LIVE on ESPN 2.

The Rockets recently received praise from Nick Nurse, the coach of the defending NBA champions Toronto Raptors, after a pre-season friendly between the teams.

“Houston kind of allows you to play, you know, a whole game against, uh, you know constant switching and it’s not that easy to play offence against because their premise is, you know they’re gonna do whatever they can to keep two in front of the ball, to keep it out of the paint so you work pretty hard to conjure up some offence at times and it’s good practice to kind of make the guys work their way through that,” said Nurse.

The first week of live NBA action is capped off by the Sacramento Kings facing the New Orleans Pelicans on the evening of Thursday 6 August 5:30pm LIVE on ESPN 2.

Viewers on DStv in Ghana can look forward to action from the world’s best basketball league, as the first week of the NBA’s restart runs from Friday 31 July to Thursday 6 August 2020 on DStv Premium and Compact Plus only.

Visit www.dstv.com and www.gotvafrica.com to subscribe or upgrade, and join in on the excitement. And while you’re on the move, you can stream the action on DStv Now.