NBA makes Lakers, Warriors announcement for Dallas Mavericks

The game against the Warriors will be on January 22nd on Amazon Prime at 6:30 p.m. CST, while the Lakers game will be on January 24th at 7:30 p.m. CST on ABC.

These may not seem like traditional rivalries for the Mavericks in a way that the Spurs would, but it's easy to see why the NBA would want to highlight these matchups.

Klay Thompson left the Golden State Warriors a year ago for the Dallas Mavericks, and each game between the two teams last year were thrillers except for that final game in Golden State. But getting three great games out of four is a solid average.

The Lakers game really needs no introduction or reasoning. February's trade between the two teams, swapping Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis, sent shockwaves around the NBA, stunning everybody involved in the league, and it still stings for a lot of Mavs fans.

There are also a lot of other connections between the two teams. The Lakers still have Maxi Kleber and just hired Jeremy Holsopple, the Mavs' former athletic performance director. The Mavericks, meanwhile, have three former Lakers players (Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and D'Angelo Russell) and four former Lakers coaches (Jason Kidd, Frank Vogel, Phil Handy, and Mike Penberthy).

Missed Rivalry Opportunities for the NBA

Although these are high-stakes matchups, these don't feel like rivalries for the Dallas Mavericks. Just because there are emotions about players playng against their former teams, there isn't the mutual hatred between the fanbases. If anything, Lakers fans almost feel bad for how they swindled the Mavericks for Doncic.

Some better choices would have been the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma CIty Thunder. The Mavericks and Spurs have a natural rivalry based on location, but the Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki battles throughout the 2000s were must-see TV.

The Mavericks and Thunder just do not like each other. All of last year's games between the teams were scrappy and hard fought, the fanbases quarrel with each other, and the Mavericks were the only team to beat the eventual champion Thunder three times last regular season. OKC may not have a lot to prove to the NBA after winning the title, but they still want to beat Dallas.