The NBA schedule has many key dates. However, NBA Rivals Week isn't one of them despite the league's efforts. During the 2022-23 season, the concept was introduced as a way to add some juice to the regular season. Each year, the concept has been forgotten about outside when the schedule is released and briefly mentioned when the games are actually played in January. Looking at the matchups, it's easy to see why. The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the 11 nationally televised rivalry games, as they play the Golden State Warriors.
Classic and budding rivalries between teams and players will be the focus of 11 national games over five days during NBA Rivals Week from Jan. 20-24.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 14, 2025
NBA Schedule Release presented by @Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/J91gLj3wBa
Sure, they faced off in the second round of the playoffs, but that series was far from memorable. The only other connection the two franchises have is the Rudy Gobert-Draymond Green beef. Most Wolves fans would associate the Denver Nuggets or the Oklahoma City Thunder as bigger rivals. However, after a Christmas Day matchup with the Nuggets and an NBA Cup showdown with OKC, the NBA was likely looking to shake things up. Perhaps this is a minor rivalry, but it's not a marquee one.
The Wolves-Warriors is far from the worst "rivalry matchup." The Cleveland Cavaliers-Charlotte Hornets matchup, due to the Ball brothers' connection, would take the cake in my eyes. The Milwaukee Bucks-Thunder (Last year's NBA Cup Final) and Detroit Pistons-Houston Rockets (Thompson twins' connection) are two other laughable rivalry matchups.
It's clear that the NBA should either schedule legit rivalries or abandon the concept.
Rivals Week is a fun concept that has poor execution
In theory, Rivals Week is a cool concept. We've seen this work at the college level. However, the execution has been awful at the NBA level, and this year, the matchups are worse than ever. The NBA must prioritize legitimate rivalries for this concept to work. If not, it's best to abandon the concept.
Even with more legitimate rivalries last season, Rivals Week didn't have much buzz. The problem that might doom this experiment is that specific dates will always be more marketable for rivalries, and there aren't many rivalries to begin with. Opening night, Christmas Day, and even the NBA Cup are better opportunities to market real rivalries to a national audience. And the schedule is proof of that.
The Warriors play the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night, which marks another chapter in the iconic LeBron James-Stephen Curry rivalry. While Thunder-Rockets might not be traditionally associated as a rivalry, it makes more sense than many of the other matchups, given the Rockets are arguably the biggest threat to OKC and the Kevin Durant connection. That will be another great opening night matchup.
Christmas Day has long been the best day of the regular season with five marquee and highly anticipated matchups. The Wolves-Nuggets showdown has a case to be the best game of the slate and is a clear rivalry. However, it's for the league to recycle this matchup again for Rivals Week.
Undoubtedly, the Wolves-Warriors matchup should still be an entertaining game. Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry are two of the league's most entertaining stars. The dynamic between Minnesota's powerful frontcourt and the Warriors' perimeter-centric team is also interesting. However, nothing about this game screams a true rivalry, yet it's far from the worst so-called rivalry.