Rivalries are one of the best parts about the NBA.

Although they aren’t as prevalent as they once were, rivalries are starting to start around the league once again, and the Dallas Mavericks are no stranger to that. While Dallas’ classic rival remains to be the San Antonio Spurs, a couple of new rivalries have started to scatter among the team over the last few years.

Dallas’ rivalry with the Phoenix Suns exploded in the 2022 NBA Playoffs after a heated second-round series, and the Suns remain one of the Mavs’ biggest rivals to this day. Luka Doncic and Devin Booker have an individual rivalry of their own that Klay Thompson will fit perfectly into, but a different Western Conference juggernaut has been named not only the Mavs’ biggest rival but the “biggest rivalry in the NBA.”

ESPN’s Tim Legler named “Anthony Edwards vs Luka Doncic” as the best rivalry in the NBA, and this stretches back to the rivalry that the Minnesota Timberwolves and Mavs started during the Western Conference Finals.

The drama going into that series started right after Minnesota beat the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of the second round as Edwards immediately said he’d be guarding Kyrie Irving. This statement from Edwards ended up fueling Irving, and it was bold for the young superstar to say that nonetheless.

While Dallas smoked Minnesota in five games in that series, the early signs of a rivalry were still there. Doncic and Edwards are two of the best young guards in the NBA, and both players are hungry to get their first NBA Finals win.

There were also plenty of heated moments in that series, with several altercations including Rudy Gobert. Gobert was seemingly always getting into it with a Mavericks player, with the most iconic moment of the series being Doncic’s game-winner over Gobert in Game 2 which was followed by a mouthful of trash talk from Doncic.

Mavs fans’ despise for Gobert continued into the offseason after he intentionally threw the ball at Dwight Powell’s face during an exhibition game between France and Canada ahead of the Olympics.

While it seems like plenty of the heated moments from that Western Conference Finals series stemmed around Gobert, there were some other moments that flew under the radar as well. After missing Game 4 with a neck strain after being kneed in the head by Karl-Anthony Towns, Dereck Lively II returned for Game 5 but was hit in the head by Naz Reid under the goal when Dallas was already up by 20 points in the second quarter.

This play was ruled a Flagrant 1, and an argument can be made that it looked intentional from Reid.

Dallas and Minnesota continue to be listed as two of the top contenders in the Western Conference ahead of the 2024-25 season, and their potentially forming rivalry will be on display for the world as they face off against each other on Christmas Day.

Edwards will be looking to prove that the Timberwolves have the chance to win the West while Doncic will have the chance to prove that he is still the best guard in the universe. Tons will be on the line heading into that marquee matchup, and we’ll be seeing plenty of intense matchups between these two teams for years to come.