Luka Doncic and Cooper Flagg prepare for a high-stakes Presidents' Day showdown as LeBron James leads the 76ers into Dallas for a marquee national television clash.
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks aren't as the same "Must-See TV'' as they were during the Luka Doncic Era.
But ...
The NBA schedule leaks one day ahead of Thursday's official release of the entire league slate does put Dallas in the spotlight on at least one occasion.
The Cooper Flagg-led Mavs will host LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers on Presidents' Day (Monday, Feb. 15) as part of the NBA's four-game slate that day.
Otherwise? OK, the Mavs are sort of getting snubbed.
The NBA rolled out the marquee dates of its 2026-27 schedule on Tuesday, unveiling the opening week national television slate and the five-game Christmas Day lineup. For the Mavericks, the notable part was what wasn't there.
For the first time since the 2018-19 season, Dallas will not appear in a nationally televised game during the opening week of the year. Being absent from both showcases is a clear signal of where the league and its broadcast partners currently rank Dallas among their most marketable teams.
On paper, the snub is a little surprising, because this Mavericks team has genuine intrigue. Cooper Flagg, the reigning Rookie of the Year, is kicking off a sophomore season with real leap potential. Kyrie Irving is set to play his first game since tearing his ACL in March 2025, a comeback story worth watching in its own right.
Also, Dusty May will make his NBA coaching debut, his first time on a sideline since guiding Michigan to the 2026 national championship. A young star, a returning All-Star and a first-time head coach fresh off a title is exactly the kind of storyline package that usually earns a spot under the lights.
But the league's caution is understandable, even if it stings. From the outside, the Mavericks are still viewed through the lens of a 26-win season and to the casual observer, it may not look like Dallas did enough this offseason to change its trajectory.
The additions Masai Ujiri made were smart and youth-focused rather than splashy and moves like acquiring Zaccharie Risacher or reshaping the roster through the margins don't grab national attention the way a blockbuster would.
It's easy to see why networks hesitated to commit a valuable early-season window to a team that hasn't proven anything on the court yet.
That's the key phrase: on the court. National TV slots in the opening week are earned by reputation and offseason buzz, but they're kept by results. The Mavericks have to demonstrate that their product is legitimate before the league will hand them a spotlight and that responsibility falls squarely on the players and coaching staff once the games begin.
The good news is that this is far from a season-long verdict. The full 2026-27 schedule releases Thursday and Dallas will still have plenty of nationally televised games sprinkled throughout the year. Missing opening week is a snapshot of preseason expectations, not a permanent designation.
And there's a clear path to changing the narrative. The NBA's flexible scheduling allows games to be moved into national windows later in the season and if the Mavericks perform better than expected and prove to be a genuine draw for fans outside of Dallas, they could easily see matchups flexed into primetime slots as the year goes on. A strong start, a healthy Irving and a Flagg leap would force the league's hand quickly.
For now, though, the Mavericks will open their season largely away from the national cameras ... and that's fine. The best response to being overlooked isn't complaining about the snub, it's winning enough games to make it impossible to ignore them next time.
Dallas has the talent and the storylines to earn its way back into the spotlight. The opening-week schedule just means they'll have to do it the hard way.
And then on President's Day? LeBron might make it hard, too.
