NBA's Christmas Day schedule reveals a harsh truth about the Mavericks

After playing on Christmas Day for six straight years, the Dallas Mavericks' Christmas Day streak has ended. The NBA announced its five-game Christmas Day schedule on Tuesday morning, and the Mavericks were left off it for the first time since 2019.

This was a bit of a shock, especially with Kyrie Irving poised to return from his ACL tear at the beginning of next season and Cooper Flagg winning Rookie of the Year, but it also reveals a harsh truth about the Mavs that fans may not be ready to stomach. They're not the same draw they once were during Luka Doncic's tenure, and it'll be up to Flagg and company to change that as they enter this new era.

The Mavericks of old are long gone

From 2020 until 2025, Dallas was a huge draw and must-watch television. They made the NBA Playoffs in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024, headlined by a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and an NBA Finals berth in 2024. Their three-year playoff drought from 2017 until 2019 ended in Doncic's second season in 2020, and he helped the Mavs land a Christmas Day game consistently.

Luka was running the show for their Christmas Day games from 2020 until 2024, and in 2025, Anthony Davis and Flagg were the team's focal points. 2025 was obviously way different from the previous five years, as Davis was nowhere near the player Doncic was — but the storylines surrounding the Mavericks were too juicy for the league to ignore.

They had just traded a generational superstar, Luka Doncic, the season prior, and Flagg was in his rookie season. All eyes were on the Mavericks to see if they could bounce back after missing the playoffs after trading Doncic, but the same can't be said anymore.

The NBA no longer views Dallas through the same lens

Most analysts seem to think the Mavericks will be a bottom-10 team in the NBA next season, and their offseason filled with great moves isn't getting the respect it deserves. Unfortunately, them not being scheduled to play on Christmas reflects this. The NBA doesn't believe in Dallas as they once did, but they can change that narrative starting in October.

Flagg, Irving, and the rest of the team's core can show the league that they're a contender in the making by shattering expectations and putting Dallas back in the hunt for the playoffs. Doing so would be a successful season, especially since they traded Davis in February and embraced a future-facing approach. A solid year would be a good start to shifting the national optics about this team.

The NBA likely believes that the Mavericks are a few years away from being a top team in the West. They also probably think that Flagg has a couple more seasons to grow before he becomes a superstar.

Both of these things may be true, and the Christmas Day schedule points toward this.

The NBA ignored the Mavericks, even with all the enticing storylines surrounding the team heading into next season, and they have a while to go before proving themselves as a can't-miss team. This is a truth that fans will have to accept for now, but they're in a position to turn some heads.

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