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Under the latest NBA policy located, most teams must file an initial injury report by 5 p.m. local time the day before a game. They generally file again between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on game day, with an earlier window for early tip-offs. The policy page is titled for the 2025–26 season; whether the same deadlines apply in 2026–27 has not been confirmed here.
When is the NBA injury report due?
The NBA’s 2025–26 injury-report policy sets these submission windows. Times are local to the team, not a single national time zone.
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| Situation | Latest located submission deadline |
|---|---|
| Most games: initial report | By 5 p.m. on the day before the game. |
| Game day, except the second game of a back-to-back | Submit between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. |
| Game day for a tip-off at 5 p.m. or earlier, except the second game of a back-to-back | Submit between 8 and 10 a.m. |
| Second game of a back-to-back | By 1 p.m. on game day. |
These are the latest deadlines located, not confirmation of the 2026–27 rules. The policy page is explicitly labeled 2025–26, and no 2026–27 policy confirming the same windows was located. Check the NBA Official injury-report page for a season-specific update.
What information does the report contain?
Teams must report injuries, illnesses, other medical conditions, and rest for players in all NBA games. If a matter may affect participation, the team must provide a participation status and identify the specific injury, illness, condition, or other reason.
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The public report shows the game, team, player, status, and reason. A dated NBA sample includes statuses such as Out, Doubtful, Probable, and Available, alongside injury details and other notes. Those labels are examples from the sample—not a definition of every status or a guarantee of the eventual lineup.
How often does the NBA injury report update?
The NBA Official policy page says reports are “updated on a continual basis throughout the day.” It does not specify a fixed public refresh interval. Because the report is a changing snapshot, a player’s listed status can change; revisit the official report rather than treating an earlier listing as final.
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What does “questionable” mean on an NBA injury report?
“Questionable” is a status label readers may encounter, but the policy page reviewed does not define it or assign it a probability of playing. Do not infer a precise chance from the label alone: the public report states the current listing, and the team may update it.
What the reporting deadline does—and does not—mean
A reporting deadline is a team obligation to submit information; it is not a promise that a player will or will not play. The NBA has also scrutinized availability decisions under its separate Player Participation Policy. In December 2025, the league announced a $250,000 fine against Cleveland in a case involving Darius Garland, saying he was able to play in one of two games and the team made him available for the non-nationally televised game rather than the nationally televised one. That was a participation-policy case, not a stated missed injury-report deadline.
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Older schedules should not be mistaken for current instructions. A 2020 restart release used a five-hours-before-tip deadline for the second game of a back-to-back, while an NBA Official announcement in 2018 listed specific publication times in Eastern Time. The later season-labeled 2025–26 policy instead gives a 1 p.m. local-time deadline for the second game and says reports update continually.
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