How many NBA games can you watch?

Pro basketball fans will get the chance to test their limits when ESPN/ABC and Turner take over the six-year NBA deal next season. There will be more than 200 telecasts annually on four networks.

replaces NBC as the network carrier, will carry 15 regular-season Sunday games, some early-round playoff games and the NBA Finals. The rest of the games will be on cable, with ESPN doing Friday games, TNT doing Thursday night doubleheaders and AOL Sports, the new version of CNN/SI (or NBA.com) covering games on four nights.

The NBA, which has seen its ratings fall 35 percent, needs more games to generate more advertising dollars.

ESPN is the big winner.

The cable sports empire gets the only major team sport it was missing. ESPN now has the Big Six -- NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA football and basketball.

ESPN says that adding the NBA will not hurt its extensive college basketball and NHL coverage. ESPN has enough air time with two networks, ESPN and ESPN2.

NBC loses its third major sport in four years. It lost the NFL in 1998 and baseball in 2000.

But NBC refuses to keep losing money. It will have to be content with the Olympics, NASCAR, golf, tennis and horse racing.