NEW YORK, July 18 -- The three-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers will tip off their mission for a fourth consecutive championship on Tuesday, Oct. 29, when they take on the San Antonio Spurs to begin the opening week of the NBA's 57th season.

The NBA's opening week marks a string of four consecutive days of nationally televised doubleheaders to start the 2002-03 season. Opening night begins on TNT with an Eastern Conference matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic at TD Waterhouse Centre at 8 p.m. ET followed by the Spurs and Lakers at STAPLES Center at 10:30 p.m ET.

The second night of the season, Oct. 30, features a slate of 14 games including a televised doubleheader on ESPN. The Washington Wizards face the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre at 7 p.m. ET and the Lakers meet the Portland Trail Blazers at Rose Garden at 9:30 p.m ET in ESPN's first televised NBA games since the 1983-84 season.

Shaq and Webber will collide during a Christmas Day game on ABC.
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Thursday, Oct. 31, also presents a doubleheader on TNT with the Boston Celtics visiting the Wizards at MCI Center at 7:30 p.m ET and the Blazers and Sacramento Kings meeting at 10 p.m. ET. The four consecutive days of televised doubleheaders concludes on Friday, Nov. 1, with two games on ESPN. The New York Knicks travel to First Union Center to battle the 76ers at 8 p.m. ET, with the nightcap featuring the Seattle SuperSonics and Golden State Warriors from The Arena in Oakland at 10:30 p.m ET.

The 2002 NBA Finalists, the Lakers and Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets, will meet twice during the regular season -- on Dec. 19 in New Jersey on TNT at 7:30 p.m ET and on Jan. 24 in Los Angeles at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The first pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, Yao Ming, will make his first nationally televised appearance when he leads the Houston Rockets into America West Arena to face the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 15 at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Turner Sports, which is televising NBA basketball for the 19th consecutive season, will televise 52 games on TNT with 48 of those games as part of Thursday night doubleheaders. For the first time, TNT will air the NBA All-Star Game, which takes place at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 9, in Atlanta at Philips Arena.

Beginning with the 2002-03 season, ABC and ESPN enter the first year of a six-year agreement with the NBA. ABC will televise 14 games beginning with a Christmas Day doubleheader, featuring rematches of the 2002 Conference Finals with the Celtics visiting the Nets at 6 p.m. ET and the Kings traveling to Los Angeles to face the Lakers at 8:30 p.m. ET.

ESPN networks will televise 76 games with ESPN carrying 68 contests and ESPN2 televising eight games. The ESPN networks will feature one game each Wednesday night with a doubleheader every Friday evening.

The NBA on ESPN Radio gets under way on Opening Night (Oct. 29) with a Western Conference showdown between the Lakers and the Spurs. The NBA on ESPN Radio will feature 20 games, including five doubleheaders. On Friday, Feb. 7, the NBA on ESPN Radio will carry an NBA All-Star Friday Night special, Meet the All-Stars, at 10 p.m. ET.

In addition, the events of NBA All-Star Saturday on Feb. 8 and the 2003 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 9 will be broadcast on the NBA on ESPN Radio.

NBA programming currently is seen in more than 210 countries around the world in more than 42 languages reaching a global audience of more than 750 million households.