It’s not always easy to watch NBA live streaming in the UK. Basketball games tend to be impacted by the time difference, meaning if you want to watch NBA live stream, you’ll need to be awake in the middle of the night… Then, there’s geo-restrictions to consider, which makes it incredibly difficult to watch NBA free online outside the US. Lucky for you, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Read on to find out how to watch the NBA in the UK, and how to maximize your streaming experience.
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Last Update Made On: 11 April 2024
The best places for NBA online streaming
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is to basketball what the Premier League is to football.
There are plenty of ways to watch the NBA online, however I’m going to focus exclusively on the real deal: I’m not here to talk about low-quality, free streams, full of viruses and ads, which buffer every five minutes. Instead, I’m sharing the top platforms for NBA online live streaming that actually work – and are actually enjoyable to use.
BT Sports
If you’re at home, you probably already know how to watch the NBA in the UK: You can watch NBA online for free with BT Sports. The platform offers extensive coverage of the season, the playoffs and the finals. The only downside is that you can’t watch NBA free online with BT if you’re outside the UK. For example, if you’re an ex-pat or you’re travelling.
BT Sports don’t allow you to watch anything outside the UK because of television rights.
Sky Sports
Sky Sports sometimes manages to steal the broadcasting contract from BT, so if you want to know how to watch the NBA in the UK, your best bet is to try either of these subscriptions before anything else.
NBA League Pass
Your second option is to purchase an NBA League Pass. With the pass, you can watch NBA online for free in HD. What’s more, previous season games are also available on-demand. You can buy a single game, subscribe for a month or for a year.
Sling TV
Sling TV is a US based streaming platform that will let you watch NBA free online. Subscriptions are $35/month, but the first month is $10. So you could watch NBA live stream for 30 days then cancel your account.
Online betting sites
Another option for how to watch the NBA in the UK is via online betting sites. As long as you deposit into your account, you’ll be able to watch NBA online for free.
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Watch NBA live stream: What’s the catch?
When you try to watch NBA online for free in the UK – or anywhere else in the world – there is still the chance of running into problems. Even if you use reputable broadcasters like the ones I’ve highlighted above.
One of the major issues that affect ex-pats and travellers is geo-restrictions.
When broadcasters get the official rights, users can watch NBA free online on their platform – but only in the broadcaster’s original country. So, if you’re wanting to watch NBA live stream on BT, but you’re outside the UK, you won’t be able to.
Another issue is that even with the best internet you can still experience slow speeds and buffering.
Yep, if your internet provider notices you’re researching ‘how to watch the NBA in the UK’, they’ll be keeping their eyes peeled for your streaming activity. If they detect that you’re streaming content, they have been known to throttle your data and reduce your bandwidth. All of this means that while you’re trying to watch NBA free online, you might also have to suffer through buffering. Not ideal for a fast-paced game like basketball.
How to watch the NBA in the UK (and anywhere in the world)
If you want to get the best experience when trying to watch NBA online for free, you need to find a way to hide what you’re up to from your ISP and bypass geo-restrictions.
Geo-restrictions are based on the IP address of your device (PC, tablet or phone). So you can use a special tool to change your IP address and hide your activity from your internet provider.
The special tool is called a VPN, and it can help you emulate your location anywhere in the world. If you want to watch NBA free online while outside the UK, you can use a VPN to pretend you’re in the country. That way, you’ll be able to access BT or Sky on the go.
A VPN server acts as a middle between your device and the BT Sports’ website. When you connect to a server, all your traffic passes through this server so that the site is presented the server’s IP address instead of yours. This IP address will be in the UK, meaning you’ll be granted access to watch NBA live stream even when you’re outside the country.
What’s more, when your traffic travels to the server, it does so in an encrypted tunnel. This tunnel means your internet provider can’t see what you’re up to. So, if they can’t see you searching for ‘how to watch the NBA in the UK’, and can’t detect you streaming the game, they can’t throttle your data. Yep, you’re free to watch NBA online for free without having to worry about buffering.
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How to watch NBA online for free with a VPN
So, how do you watch NBA free online with a VPN?
Now that you know a VPN is the only watch to watch NBA live stream in another country, you need to find a good VPN for the job.
I’ve created a list of the best VPNs below, but have a few pieces of advice to share before you dive in.
The first is to never use a free VPN.
While the word ‘free’ is hugely appealing, free VPNs aren’t good news. For a start, they very rarely let you watch NBA live stream, as they’ll have been blocked by reputable broadcasters. The next issue is that nothing is really free these days. VPNs that lure you in with the promise of free use, have been known to actually sell your data to third parties. In the best case scenario, you get a lot more spam calls and emails. In the worst case scenario, you’re in a massive fraud case.
I recommend staying well away from free VPNs, and instead, use a free trial or cheap VPN for how to watch the NBA in the UK.
For example, ExpressVPN is an affordable, and reliable VPN. Better still, they offer all new users a 30-day money-back guarantee. That means you can sign up, watch NBA for free online, then cancel your subscription within the first month for a full refund.
Of course, there’s also the option to continue with your subscription. And, the longer you sign up for, the more discount you can get. Those that are ready to commit can sign up for 12 months and receive around 50% discount on their monthly payments.
VPNs are usually pretty affordable, and can cost around a single Starbucks a month. Not bad really.
Watch NBA online for free with the best VPN
While there are hundreds of VPN providers on the market, not all will let you watch NBA free online. To help you get set up quickly, I’ve made a little list of the best VPNs, and I’ve ranked them based on these criteria:
- My experience: I like some VPNs better than others…
- The speed of the VPN: Because you want to watch NBA live stream without buffering!
- The number of servers: So you can watch NBA online for free wherever you are in the world
All the VPNs in this list will show you how to watch the NBA in the UK, as well as anywhere else you find yourself.
What else can a VPN do?
VPNs weren’t originally created to help you watch NBA free online. Nope, they’re actually an integral part of your online security.
As mentioned above, when connected to a VPN, your traffic travels through an encrypted tunnel to a server. This encryption means onlookers can’t see what you’re doing. As such, VPNs are great for those travelling into a conservatorship country as you can essentially browse anonymously.
It also means you can bypass all geo-restrictions across the globe. So, once you watch NBA live stream, you can switch servers and watch US Netflix, BBC iPlayer or Amazon Prime outside the US and UK.
This was my guide: How to watch the NBA in the UK. Stay tuned for more articles coming soon.
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