The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Chicago Bulls’ matchup with the Charlotte Hornets will no longer appear on TNT.
Scheduled for Jan. 26, the game will be flexed out for the Knicks-Celtics matchup that will take place in Boston. The Celtics are currently the East’s top team while the Knicks sith in seventh.
This now marks the second nationally televised broadcast that has been stripped away from the Bulls this month. The previous matchup came on Jan. 6, when the Bulls’ eventual win over Philly was subbed out for the Pelicans’ meeting with the Nets.
If I had to guess, this swap by TNT has a lot more to do with Charlotte than it does Chicago. While the Bulls have obviously underachieved this season, they have re-entered the postseason conversation thanks to a recent winning stretch. Meanwhile, the Hornets hold the NBA’s third-worst record at 11-31 and are right in the middle of the Wemby sweepstakes.
Not to mention, the main reason this game was initially given the national spotlight was due to the potential Lonzo-LaMelo Ball matchup. In fact, the NBA originally scheduled this game during “rival week” – a new addition to this year’s league calendar – but the absence of Ball and the Hornets’ lackluster season undoubtedly makes it far less appealing.