The Warriors will open their title defense season by hosting the Lakers on the first night of the 2022/23 campaign, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As Charania notes, Golden State will also give championship rings to those who were with the team last season. The ring ceremony and game are scheduled to be televised by TNT.
The Warriors are coming off their fourth title victory in the past eight seasons. They finished with the third-best record in the Western Conference last season (53-29), trailing only the Grizzlies (56-26) and Suns (64-18). The team lost a handful of players, including Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr., in free agency, but still has its core group.
The Lakers had a disappointing campaign last season. The team dealt with several injuries to key players, preventing the star trio of Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis – along with the supporting group – from developing chemistry. At 33-49, they finished 11th in the West.
The full NBA schedule is expected to be released in the near future. The only other schedule-related news also involves the Lakers, as veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein reported (via Twitter) they’re likely to visit the Mavericks on Christmas Day this year.