Will Smith's wife Cara, Walker Buehler's wife McKenzie, Freddie Freeman & more hyped up as Dodgers vs. Padres I-5 rivalry heats up in NLDS

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will face off in the National League Division Series starting with the series opener on Saturday at the Dodger Stadium. Players and families from the home team are confident that they can overcome San Diego's challenge and get one step closer to going all the way this year.

For the showdown, the Dodgers produced a special hype video featuring actor Anthony Anderson and Kendrick Lamar's hit single "Not Like Us." The video starts with the Dodgers' division-clinching on-air announcement, followed by Anderson describing the Los Angeles culture.

The "Blackish" actor completes his initial part with the words "They Not Like Us" as Lamar's song starts playing with a montage of Dodgers achievements throughout 2024. Anderson continues with some hype words as the video ends with "Postseason 2024" signifying that the city is ready.

A number of Dodgers players and their families reshared the video on their social media accounts. This included regulars in the lineup like Freddie Freeman, Kike Hernandez and Miguel Rojas and pitcher Walker Buehler's wife Mckenzie and catcher Will Smith's wife Cara.

Various Instagram stories from Dodgers players and their families. (Instagram @caramartinellsmith, @mckenziebuehler, @kikehendez, @freddiefreeman, @miggyslocker)

This postseason is significant to the team as the first in Shohei Ohtani era. Two years back, when the Dodgers achieved a franchise-record-breaking 111 wins in the regular season, they were eliminated in four games in the NLDS by the Padres.

MLB analyst picks Padres over Dodgers for NLDS matchup

Analyst David Samson doesn't believe the Dodgers have it in them to beat their division rivals at home. On the "Nothing Personal with David Samson" podcast, he took a dig at Dave Roberts' side, saying their opponents were better.

"Take a look at the Dodgers starting pitching and bullpen and then you'll say to yourself the Padres are better every game... As a matter of fact, the Padres in theory with their lineup where you get Arraez on base, then you have Tatis, then you have Profar, you have Machado as your top four, I am not so sure that can't match up against the Dodgers," Samson said. [19:50]

Later in the video, he also formally predicts San Diego winning and going on to face the Phillies in the NLCS.

No matter the outcome, all eyes will be on the matchup as one of the most hyped series in recent times.