The full NBA schedule for the 2022-23 season has been released and there are many exciting matchups on the horizon. The defending champion Golden State Warriors will open their title defense against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 18th. However, there is a better matchup the NBA could have picked the for the Warriors.
Lakers vs. Warriors could potentially be a good game on opening night, but if the Warriors had been scheduled to play the Nets, it would be a much more exciting matchup. As everybody knows, Kevin Durant won two Finals MVPs with the Golden State Warriors and still chose to leave the Warriors and go to the Nets. KD's tenure with the Brooklyn Nets has been a failure as the team that has had him, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden on it has just one playoff series win to show for it.
Meanwhile, when Kevin Durant left the Warriors and Golden State could not make it out of the play-in tournament in 2021, many people thought it was the beginning of the end for the Warriors. The injuries and aging of the Steph, Klay, and Draymond trio also contributed to people believing that the Warriors were done winning titles.
Obviously this was not true as the Warriors found a way to win the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Steph Curry won his first Finals MVP and the Warriors won their fourth title in six years. In addition, every year the big three of Steph, Klay, and Draymond has been at full strength in the postseason, they have made the NBA Finals.
Kevin Durant's trade request obviously could have something to do with Nets vs. Warriors not being the opening night matchup, but this was the best possible matchup in terms of storylines. The Warriors will be raising a banner on opening night and if Kevin Durant had to return to the Bay Area and watch that in person, it would have been something to behold.