The Los Angeles Lakers remain the premier franchise in the NBA and the recent schedule release provided more proof of that. Being led by Luka Doncic and LeBron James certainly helps things but regardless, the Lakers are tied for the most national TV appearances in the 2025-26 season with 34.
Big time matchups with the likes of the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks will be featured on the likes of ABC, ESPN and new media partners NBC and Amazon Prime. But the Lakers’ time on national TV doesn’t just start at the regular season as they will be featured during the preseason as well.
ESPN has announced its preseason schedule and the Lakers’ matchups with the Warriors on Oct. 5 and Mavericks on Oct. 15 will be featured:
Presenting the '25 @ESPNNBA preseason schedule 🏀 pic.twitter.com/F2ApDNes4m
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 20, 2025
These games being featured makes a ton of sense. The Lakers and Warriors have built up a major rivalry over the past few seasons fueled by the years of battles done between LeBron and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. Any time these two teams share the court, it has provided some of the best games of the season so featuring a preseason matchup between them is only right.
The Warriors game will be the Lakers’ second preseason contest, so it could mark the debut of stars like Doncic and James. Meanwhile, the Mavericks game is the second-to-last preseason contest which usually serves as a dress rehearsal of sorts with stars playing into the second half. Any meeting, even a preseason one, between the Lakers and Mavericks is appointment viewing now thanks to the Doncic trade and the energy in the building in Las Vegas will be electric.
The goal of these media companies is to get the most eyes as possible on these games and the Lakers attract viewers. Pairing them with the Warriors and Mavericks is sure to get as many, if not more, eyeballs than any other preseason game can draw.
Lakers to face Nuggets, Clippers and Mavericks during NBA Rivalry Week
Plenty of Lakers games will be featured on national TV this season, but one of the NBA’s premier times is Rivalry Week and the Lakers will be all over that as well. The Lakers will kick off their eight-game road trip during NBA Rivalry Week, facing the Denver Nuggets, followed by meetings with the Los Angeles Clippers and Mavericks to round out the week.
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