NBA Christmas games

Games held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Christmas Day, December 25, have been an annual tradition since the league's second season in 1947.

[1] Since then, the NBA has played games every year on Christmas Day except in 1998 (when a lockout canceled half the 1998–99 season).

[3] Teams would usually play their geographical rivals to cut down on holiday travel and to allow them to have more time with their families.

[3] According to Dr. Jack Ramsay, who coached the Portland Trail Blazers from 1976–77 (their only championship season) to 1986, "Christmas meant being at home with the family and having a game we always won.

"[3] He set the record for most coaching victories on Christmas Day with 11, an achievement that Phil Jackson later matched in 2008.

The Christmas matchups usually include the teams that played in the previous season's NBA Finals.

[3] Some examples of this include 2009 and 2010, when the defending champions of those seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers played at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 and the Miami Heat in 2010, so that they could have showdowns between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James both times.

[6] Their most recent Yuletide appearance came in 2024 when they defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 117–114, at Madison Square Garden.

[5] From 2008 to 2011, teams playing on Christmas Day wore a patch featuring the NBA logo inside a snowflake.

During the 2018–19 season, a few teams wore a fifth alternate known as "Earned" uniforms; these were given as a reward for making the 2018 NBA playoffs.

This unique situation combined with the unveiling of a championship banner for the Mavericks in a finals rematch, and then to see the Lakers and the debut of Mike Brown as head coach, those things are all going to be very compelling.

Since 1999, each Christmas has featured games involving either the Celtics or the Lakers, with both teams playing on the holiday in 2002 and every year since 2008.

[1] The first telecast of an NBA game on Christmas Day dates back to the league's early years.

For three years (2004–2006), ABC insisted on having a Christmas Day game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers so that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal could play against each other.

"[24] In 2008, TNT broadcast on Christmas Day for the first time as Marv Albert, Mike Fratello and Craig Sager called the game between Washington and Cleveland in Cleveland and Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Cheryl Miller called the game between Dallas and Portland in Portland.

This marked the first time that all three networks that cover the NBA (ABC, ESPN, and TNT) produced games on Christmas Day.

As a result, the NBA gave TNT the first game of the Christmas slate with a contest between the Celtics and Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

[18] Because of this, Albert, who was also working for CBS's NFL coverage, was forced to miss his scheduled Week 16 game the day before.

Also on that day, ABC broadcast the Dallas Mavericks' 2011 Championship banner ceremony during their pre-game show.

In a unique situation in 2017, ABC aired an NBA tripleheader for the first time ever, which was headlined by a 2017 NBA Finals rematch between LeBron James and the Cavaliers and Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and the Warriors, which would be the prelude to the 2018 Finals rematch, which resulted in a Warriors sweep.

[25] With network programming spanning throughout most of the day, beginning with Good Morning America Weekend (starting at 7:00 am local time) and the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade (airing across the country at 10:00 am ET),[26] and then NBA coverage stretching from the first tripleheader game (Philadelphia–New York) at noon ET,[27] which also featured an alternate broadcast on ESPN2 hosted by Stephen A. Smith, and was simulcast on ESPN+, to the conclusion of the last game (Phoenix–Denver) after 1:45 am ET early on December 26 (the game went to overtime), some ABC affiliates gave their local news department employees the entire day off.

[30] In November 2024, it was further announced that ESPN2, ESPN+, and Disney+ will show an alternate broadcast of the first game, San Antonio Spurs–New York Knicks, that will use Hawk-Eye and other Sony-owned technology to render a live animated version of the contest portrayed by Mickey Mouse universe characters.

[33] Several fans, players, coaches, and members of the news media support the tradition of Christmas games.

[3] Before the game between the Celtics and Magic at Amway Arena in 2009, personnel on both sides referred to playing on Christmas as a reward.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said that like most of the players, he always watched Christmas Day games growing up.

"[13] Lamar Odom called it "a tremendous privilege to be able to entertain the world...playing on TV in those games.

[9][24] In recent years, players and coaches have complained about playing on Christmas Day, saying that takes time away from families.

"[38] From the Heat, LeBron James said, "if you ask any player in the league, we'd rather be home with our families...It's not just a regular holiday.

"[19] In 2004, the NBA was erroneously criticized for scheduling a game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers as the first matchup since their brawl that the two teams had faced each other.

[39] The regular season, and the game, was scheduled well before the brawl took place, and was played with a higher-than-normal security presence and fan restrictions to prevent a repeat occurrence.