With the NBA set to release its schedule sometime in the next week, newsbreakers are starting to learn some tidbits about the league’s plans for its biggest days on the calendar.
We’ve learned that the Lakers will head to San Francisco on the opening night of the season for the Warriors’ ring ceremony, while a couple of Christmas Day contests have been revealed: Lakers-Mavericks and Grizzlies-Warriors.
Memphis at Golden State is another Christmas Day game on the NBA's preliminary schedule for the 2022-23 season that is on course to be made official this coming week, league sources tell me.
More NBA from me: https://t.co/LGN9cVpeGP https://t.co/GpkZxsU8NI
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 13, 2022
The latter of those was something that wasn’t just a matchup fans were hoping for, but players on both sides were angling to see after they developed something of a rivalry after their West semis matchup that saw the Warriors come out on top in six games. During that series there was plenty of chirping on both sides, accusations of dirty play, and some really good basketball too, and the league seems to be embracing that budding rivalry in the West by giving it a spot on the biggest day of the NBA calendar.
The two stars of each team that have done the most talking, Ja Morant and Draymond Green, celebrated the news of their Christmas Day showdown on Twitter, feeling like they’d posted this into existence — with Green even offering to open his home to Morant’s family for Christmas dinner.
That’s the power of your voice Young! Let’s goooo! Bring the fam to the crib for dinner after https://t.co/xs8GpKkQtE
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) August 13, 2022
It’s a cool gesture from Green who clearly enjoys the banter with the young Grizzlies and knows the difference between real beef and some trash talk on the court (and on Twitter). While the Greens and Morants might get together and break bread afterwards, it seems less likely that type of invite will be extended from, say, Klay Thompson to Dillon Brooks.
