Here’s how I catch every NBA play with Sling Orange

Growing up in suburban Chicagoland, I watched the Bulls dominate pretty much everything throughout the ’90s, so I like to think I know what world-class basketball looks like. As someone who has transitioned to an almost entirely digital media diet, I was excited to get to take a crack at seeing just how Sling TV delivers whistle-to-whistle coverage of the NBA through their sports-focused Orange package plus their League Pass add-on. 

Here are the top features that I found myself loving:  

The basics and beyond

Sling has been streaming TV for nearly a decade and can deliver live content to your browser, phone, or smart TV, whether you’re looking to watch broadcast television, on-demand films, shows, or, of course, sports. Adding the League Pass to your account opens up an entire world of basketball content: It’s got every game from every team (minus the usual blackout restrictions for local games, which affect every sports streamer). You also get access to plenty of other NBA knowledge through NBA TV. 

Living away from Chicago, I miss watching my favorite teams — Sox, Bears, and Bulls. Sling TV, with NBA included, brings a piece of home to me. At just $40 a month for Sling Orange and a small fee for the League Pass ($14.99 per month), it’s a budget-friendly choice compared to competitors.

Digging into the League Pass

Credit: Karl Klockars, Mashable Composite

Working from home, I like Sling TV’s setup for its convenient game recording feature. I could catch up on games anytime, eliminating the need to stay up late for matches in different time zones to keep up with players like Victor Wembanyama or Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The interface lets you select your preferred teams, and I particularly appreciated that as a sports-focused streamer, the top channels in my online guide started with NBA TV, followed by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPN News — no need to spend time resorting or rearranging through other networks required. 

Sling DVR = All-day game time

After my initial login, I set up my Sling DVR to capture the upcoming NBA games. The next time I hopped on through my browser, I found a generous 14 matches from the previous night waiting for me to breeze through at my own pace. 

These three-hour-plus games did come close to maxing out the 50 hours of included DVR time, but for me, it’s not a big deal. Once it hits the storage limit, Sling has a feature that automatically sweeps away the oldest programs in my queue. Since I’m strictly using it for sports, that’s not a concern for me; I’m all about the latest action. Some curation might be in order if you’re holding onto other TV episodes for an extended period.

Sling’s web interface

Credit: Karl Klockars, Mashable Composite

Credit: Karl Klockars, Mashable Composite

Aside from the occasional mindless TikTok binge, I’m not a big consumer of video content on my phone. However, I enjoy the flexibility of watching at my own pace on my computer. During browser sessions, the picture-in-picture feature (which they call Side View) became a favorite, enabling me to keep games playing in the lower corner of my screen while tackling writing tasks that involve a lot of web surfing and research.

And with my stash of saved games, I curated my own highlight reel by clicking into any game and jumping to any specific moment. I love the ability to fast-forward straight to the exciting finale of a game for an instant thrill, especially when I don’t have the time to enjoy a whole match.

Sling on smart TVs

Credit: Karl Klockars, Mashable Composite

Even though catching up on games during the workday was great, I also like sitting down to view things live from the comfort of my TV as they happen. When it was time to slam my laptop shut, I was still more than happy to ease into my evening with Sling on my big screen. I tried both the Roku app and the app available on my Android TV, and both were equally quick, snappy, and pretty intuitive. 

While watching live, I found that Sling’s in-channel guidance gave me more info about what shows were coming up, plus additional shows to record or stream on demand. Bonus: This was one of the helpful hints that Sling added to the screen for new users like me.

I also loved that Sling allows you to bring up their Enhanced Sports Scores function, which lets you see who’s winning and losing in real-time, and switch instantly to games that might be a bit more exciting. Even while I watched the Pacers play the Sixers in a high-scoring game, I felt like an even bigger fan knowing precisely what was happening during In-Season Tournament play around the league. 

Other appreciated extras

Closed captions across both were quick and accurate. Sometimes I was worried that I might miss the end of a game, but I quickly discovered that there was extra buffer time saved at the end of each broadcast. Even if the game went into overtime, I never missed a minute. 

Being able to “lock” a game so I don’t lose it from the DVR later on was much appreciated, as was the watchlist function, which allowed me to program my own all-day viewing. The picture-in-picture function is also something that’s carried over to the TV experience, with games still streaming while I scrolled through other carousels to see what else was available.

Overall, with a little bit of first-day personalizing to get the games you want, Sling Orange with the NBA League Pass is an excellent choice for anyone who lives, eats, and breathes basketball action, as well as the more casual fans who still want to stay up to date as greatest they can. Even outside all the sports streaming options on Sling Orange, it’s great to also have some films and TV to occasionally watch outside of game day.