A fast-moving winter storm could upend the Dallas Mavericks‘ highly anticipated home game against the Los Angeles Lakers, placing Luka Doncic’s‘s return to Dallas in doubt just days before the teams are set to meet.
Forecasts call for heavy snow and ice across large parts of the southern United States this weekend, with North Texas expected to take a direct hit.
Dallas is among the cities forecast to see up to half an inch of ice, a scenario that often brings airport disruptions, power outages, and dangerous travel conditions. With that in mind, the focus has shifted from basketball intrigue to basic logistics.
Before Dallas tipped off against the Golden State Warriors, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd addressed the growing concern over whether the Lakers will even be able to reach the city.
“If Lakers land, we play,” Kidd told reporters. “We can’t help it if the fans don’t come or you don’t come… It becomes hard for availability and trying to squeeze the game in here or there, so if the Lakers do land tomorrow, hopefully we can play the game on Saturday.”
The stakes are unusually high for the Dallas crowd. The matchup is expected to mark the first time Doncic returns to face his former team since joining the Lakers, closing one chapter and opening another in what has already been one of the league’s most talked-about storylines this season.
Travel concerns grow as league watches weather closely
Dallas area airports have already issued advisories ahead of the storm, which is expected to arrive Friday afternoon and worsen into Saturday.
The uncertainty is compounded by the Lakers‘ schedule, as they are set to play the LA Clippers on Friday night. Any delay in departure could quickly snowball into a larger scheduling problem if conditions deteriorate.
Kidd referenced the league’s ability to operate under unusual circumstances, pointing back to the pandemic era when the NBA played inside the Orlando bubble in 2020 and later in arenas with sharply reduced attendance during the 2020/21 season.
Those games, stripped of atmosphere and routine, showed that the NBA can function even when conditions are far from normal.
Dallas are not the only team dealing with weather-driven uncertainty. Earlier on Friday, the NBA announced that the Washington Wizards road game against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday has been moved up to noon ET from its original evening slot due to “impending weather.” The decision signalled that the league is already prepared to adjust schedules where necessary.
