Opening week and Christmas are some of the most anticipated dates of every NBA season. This 2022-23 campaign, however, there’s another set of games to look forward to: Rivals Week.
When the NBA released its official schedule for the upcoming season, one game week particularly stood out. The matches scheduled between January 24 to 28 are massive, to say the least, with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors facing Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies once again, as well as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers having another “Battle of LA ” with Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Simply put, the NBA Rivals Week is Christmas one month after the yuletide season.
Ben Golliver of the Washington Post highlighted the 11 rivalry games that will be featured during the Rivals Week, including the Dallas Mavericks versus the Phoenix Suns, another Lakers game but against the Boston Celtics, and the New York Knicks against the Brooklyn Nets.
New this year: “NBA Rivals Week”
11 rivalry games from Jan. 24-28:
– Celtics/Heat
– Clippers/Lakers
– Nets/76ers
– Grizzlies/Warriors
– Lonzo Ball/LaMelo Ball
– Suns/Mavericks
– Timberwolves/Grizzlies
– Raptors/Warriors
– Nikola Jokic/Joel Embiid
– Knicks/Nets
– Lakers/Celtics— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 17, 2022
The NBA has certainly done a great job scheduling those games, which should only add more anticipation and drama to the NBA season before the All-Star break and trade deadline.
Of course here’s to hoping that star players get to stay healthy when Rivals Week comes. After all, with the season fully underway at that point, injury concerns and load management are usually prevalent.
For now, fans can look forward with much hype for the said January games. If it succeeds, maybe the league can make it a staple on the schedule every season moving forward.
