Dallas Mavericks left off NBA’s marquee TV schedule

by Earl K. Sneed of Dallas Mavericks

A first-round exit at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs may be why the Mavericks aren't headlining the NBA's nationwide tour.

Is the entire NBA universe overlooking the Dallas Mavericks?

It certainly appears that way.

Tuesday, against the norm, the league office released the schedule of its marquee games -- nationally-televised matchups during Opening Week, on Christmas Day and on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. There were no Mavericks' games in sight.

Instead, the Mavs and their faithful followers will have to wait until August 10 when the league unveils the full schedule. But the question comes to mind just why were the Mavericks left out in the cold with Tuesday's announcement?

Granted, the Super Friends trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in Miami will get plenty of airtime -- which in fact they did, with the opening game of the season on October 26 against the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, an October 29 showdown with the Orlando Magic, and a Christmas evening tip-off against the back-to-back champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Boston and Orlando will still hold your TV hostage as well, as expected.

Of course, Kobe Bryant and the two-time champs will receive a bulk of the face time also -- as the Lakers open up on October 26 against the Houston Rockets, before a Western Conference finals rematch against the Phoenix Suns three days later, the Christmas meeting with the Heat, and an MLK face-off with the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder.

And it is the Thunder that seemingly have become the darling of the Association with four marquee games. Kevin Durant, the youngest scoring champion in league history, is still just 21 years old and the Thunder is coming off a postseason run that saw the young squad push the Lakers to the brink of a seventh game before Pau Gasol's game-winning tip-in in Game 6 helped the champs escape the first round. So, Oklahoma City seems primed and ready for a deep playoff run in the West this season.

But where do the Mavericks fit in? Or are they perfectly fine with flying under the radar?

Well, the Mavericks didn't seem very concerned when they went on a league-best tying 13-game winning streak, though it was barely noticed last season. Thanks to a February 13 trade with Washington for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson, the team went on to win 55 regular-season games, finishing second in the West and claiming the Southwest Division crown. But a first-round exit at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs may be why the Mavericks aren't headlining the NBA's nationwide tour.

"We like the trade still that we did in February," forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "We felt like we were deep and could compete with the best of them (last season). We just happened to run into a tough team."

Now, after an expected full training camp together with Butler, Haywood, and Stevenson alongside newly acquired centers Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca from Charlotte in a five-player trade this offseason, flying under the radar seems to fit the Mavericks just fine.

"I've always felt like this is a great team," Chandler said when he joined the Mavs. "Now, to be on this team in this moment right now -- with the group of guys that they brought in last year, in addition to the guys that were already here -- I think it's a great combination."

And maybe it's a combination that can steal the thunder from the rest of the league, despite being overlooked for its marquee matchups.

Got a question for EKS? Send your question, along with your first name, last initial, city and state with the subject line "Ask EKS" to askeks@dallasmavs.com, and you could be published on Mavsfastbreak.com, the Mavericks' new official blog site.

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