How to watch the NBA live in Australia

Despite a wealth of beloved Australian sports – soccer, NRL and AFL to name a few – there’s a range of North American sports growing in popularity with viewers Down Under. For a cricket sub-in, there’s baseball. If you like rugby union, you might like NFL. And fans of field hockey will likely enjoy ice hockey.

And then there’s basketball. Or, more specifically, the immensely popular National Basketball Association (NBA) and gargantuan American league. There are a few ways to watch the NBA, NBL (the Aussie version of NBA) and other basketball leagues in Australia, including via some of the best sports streaming services.

If you want NBA streams – including NBA playoffs and NBA finals – alongside other sports, the best place to start is Kayo Sports. Alternatively, you can get the same content on Foxtel Now via the Sports channels. Admittedly, those identical NBA offerings don't have all the NBA games, but it is a decent selection: an average of nine regular-season games per week. You also get the "best of the NBA Playoffs", which includes all of the NBA Conference Finals and the NBA Finals live.

Kayo Sports Standard costs $30 per month for one HD stream, while Kayo Sports Premium is $40 per month for two streams in up to 4K resolution. You may be able to get it cheaper if there's a Kayo deal going. Note that NBA games aren't broadcast in 4K. For the same sports content but more mainstream viewing, there's also Foxtel Now. It's typically $84 per month for the Sports + bundle package or $104 per month for the Foxtel Now Ultimate pack (all channels). It's worth flagging that because DAZN now owns Foxtel, the NBA may shift from Kayo/Foxtel in the future.

Disney Plus also added ESPN NBA content in 2025. The language is a little vague around what exactly it includes, but if you've already got a Disney Plus subscription for TV shows and movies, ESPN doesn't cost any extra. If not, Disney Plus typically costs $15.99 per month or $159.99 per year for a Standard subscription, which includes two streams in up to 1080p quality. Alternatively, Disney Plus Premium costs $20.99 per month or $209.99 per year for four streams in up to 4K quality.

If you want to watch all of the NBA games, you'll need an NBA League Pass. In Australia, it's a $24.99 monthly fee for one device with commercials or $32.99 per month for up to three devices with an in-area stream (instead of commercials). For a season pass, it costs $49.99 for one device or $64.99 for up to three devices. Matches are available in up to 1080p quality.

There's also a separate WNBA League Pass for all of the women's NBA matches, including WNBA finals. It costs $34.99 per year or $12.99 per month for live matches, on-demand replays and hundreds of older archived matches.

There's more than just NBA streams on Kayo Sports and Foxtel now. You'll also have access to these other basketball leagues (outside of the big Aussie league further down the page):

• WNBA (including ESPB-broadcast WNBA finals)
• International Men (mostly shows)
• International Women (mostly shows)
• NCAA Men's College Basketball
• NCAA Women's College Basketball

You'll find a lot of the same additional basketball content on the Disney Plus ESPN tab, including:

• WNBA
• NBA G League
• NCAA Men's College Basketball
• NCAA Women's College Basketball

If you prefer your basketball with an Aussie spin, you can watch all of the National Basketball League (NBL) games on Kayo Sports or Foxtel Now. Prices are the same as outlined above to watch NBL live. Unlike the NBA matches, though, there aren't disclaimers about what you get: watch every NBL season and NBL final/s match live on Kayo Sports or Foxtel Now with the Sports add-on. There isn't a dedicated NBL TV app, but you can also catch the Sunday NBL matches live and free on 10 Play.

If you have a virtual private network (VPN) that works well for international streaming, you may be able to catch live matches via the NBL YouTube channel. The trick is to avoid connecting to servers in any of these countries so you can access the NBL live streams: Australia, New Zealand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and United States of America.

Use the VPN list below for a guide on services that work well with international streaming:

• Windscribe VPN
• ExpressVPN
• PureVPN
• NordVPN
• Proton VPN
• IPVanish VPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Private Internet Access VPN
• VPN Unlimited
• Surfshark VPN
• TunnelBear VPN

Interested to see how the streaming services above stack up against the competition? Take a look at the table below for a comparison of your streaming options in Australia.