The NBA didn’t just start playing games on Christmas Day a few years ago.
Go all the way back to 1947, the league’s second season. It opened a three-game slate with the Chicago Stags at the Baltimore Bullets.
There was no ESPN. No internet. No phone apps. The league even had a different name then: Basketball Association of America. It changed to the National Basketball Association two years later.
Times have changed for sure, but this year the NBA is in its 75th season of having games on Christmas. It has become such a holiday tradition — great games to go along with the gifts and grub — that teams and players look forward to playing on Christmas the way NFL teams anticipate the annual Thanksgiving Day games that date back to the 1920s.
The only real competition on TV is when Christmas falls on a weekend, when the NFL is playing. So the holiday became an opportunity for the NBA to showcase its elite teams and players.
The Suns will be playing in a Christmas Day game for the second straight season, after having not participated in one since 2009.
“The NBA has done a great job of capturing that day,” said former NBA player Channing Frye, who played in Christmas games with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), Suns (2009) and Portland Trail Blazers (2008, 2007).
“I have four kids. Once the presents are open, what are you watching, and nobody wants to watch the (parade) anymore. People want to watch the best of the best games on one night with family, with friends.”
Second round: Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) throws down a one-handed slam over Celtics defender Grant Williams (12) during the fourth quarter of Game 6.
This year, the NBA has five games slated for Christmas Day, each with tasty storylines:
10 a.m.: Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks (in Madison Square Garden, the self-labeled “World’s Most Famous Arena”).
12:30 p.m.: L.A. Lakers at Dallas Mavericks (LeBron James vs. Luka Doncic).
3 p.m.: Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics (the NBA’s top two teams).
6 p.m.: Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors (rematch of last year’s playoff series).
8:30 p.m.: Suns at Denver Nuggets (All-NBA Devin Booker vs. two-time MVP Nikola Jokic).
“You build these storylines starting last year,” said Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem, who has been part of 10 Christmas games (9-1 record). “This team beat this team in the playoffs. They put them out in a tough seven-game series. Just build up these storylines and with the game being on Christmas, it builds up the anticipation. It’s a great business model. I’ve seen the benefits of it.”
This year’s first three games will air primetime in Europe, Middle East and Africa, giving people in those regions a chance to watch those matchups at a more convenient time.
“You’re playing in front of the whole world,” said Brooklyn Nets guard Talen Horton-Tucker, who was with the Lakers when they faced Brooklyn on Christmas last year. “Playing on Christmas was an honor for me.”
While all five games are big, the third and fourth ones are in prime viewing slots. The 2019 Clippers-Lakers game drew 8.8 million viewers across ABC and ESPN platforms to make it the second most-watched Christmas primetime game ever, according to CNBC and Variety.
“Don’t get me wrong. The noon game was great, but you want to be under those bright lights,” Frye said. “You want everybody to have eaten their food, got their presents, they’ve had a couple of drinks, they’re sitting around the TV. Those are the games you make a name for yourself.”
The NBA makes out the schedule in the summer, and looks to build off what happened the previous year when choosing Christmas games.
Examples range from having the Lakers play the Heat in 2004 after Shaquille O’Neal got traded to Miami earlier that summer, to the Warriors and Cavaliers meeting three consecutive years (2015, 2016 and 2017) on the holiday during their four-year NBA Finals run from 2015 to 2018.
“The game lived up to the hype most of the time, but the storylines dominated the scene a little bit more,” said two-time NBA MVP and Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry.
Beyond the storylines, the history and significance of Christmas games makes them special.
Suns wing Mikal Bridges (played in his first one last year): “It’s just dope to play on Christmas. It’s still another game, but it felt cool to play on the day after watching it growing up.”
Celtics forward Grant Williams (has played in two): “I never take it for granted just because it’s something you always dream of as a kid.”
Suns center Deandre Ayton (played in his first one last year): “It’s like a Christmas gift to me that the NBA has given for me to play on this day for the fans that want to see our team.”
Hall of Famer Ben Wallace saw the Christmas game as “part of the schedule,” but even the blue-collar big man knew what it meant to play on the holiday.
“That’s your time to show out in front of everybody, put on a show,” said Wallace, who was part of three Christmas games (2002, 2004, 2005) with the Detroit Pistons.
Playing on Christmas also means the league thinks enough of that team to put it on a global stage.
Suns guard Cameron Payne (played in first one last year): “That means we’re doing something right over here.”
Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown (coached in Christmas games with Cavs, Lakers and Warriors): “That means people not just around the league, but people around the country respect you, respect your play and they want to see you play.”
Suns guard Devin Booker (played in first one last year): “When I was starting early in my career, not being a part of any, and now flipping the script. It’s exciting.”
Billy Donovan coached in four consecutive Christmas games while at Oklahoma City from 2015 to 2018. Now leading the Bulls, he hasn’t coached in one since.
“There are only so many games that can be played on that day,” Donovan said.
It can feel like the Grinch stole Christmas for those left out.
“When you’re not playing on Christmas, you realize how big of a deal it is to play on Christmas and they only pick the good teams,” Haslem said.
It makes for some tough decisions by the league, followed by even tougher explanations.
“Those are some uncomfortable calls we have from players and teams that say, ‘Please explain why we’re not on,’” said Gregg Winik, NBA president of content and executive producer. “And that’s sort of a good problem to have. People want to play on this day based on the national platform.”
This year, the NBA will have major competition for Sunday viewers from “America’s Game.” The NFL has three games that day involving three teams in playoff contention (Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins and Tampa Buccaneers), two future first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks (Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers) and the reigning Super Bowl champions (Los Angeles Rams).
“They’re a very dominant player in the sports television space,” Winik said about the NFL. “We think we have plenty of NBA fans and sports fans that are going to show up for our games, too.”
Last year, the NBA averaged 4.1 million viewers for its five Christmas games, the lowest figure since the league went from three games to five in 2008, according to Sports Business Journal.
That same Christmas Saturday, the Browns-Packers game on Fox/NFL Network averaged 28.6 million viewers. To improve its viewership, the NBA, for the first time ever, is having all five Christmas games shown on ABC and ESPN simulcast.
“We like putting ourselves in front of where people are,” Winik said. “Adding ABC components to all the games makes it more available to more people and more places.”
The NBA App will make available 23 of the best all-time Christmas games, as well as 12 of the best plays in the history of the holiday matchups.
Frye was part of a classic Christmas game and play in 2016 when Kyrie Irving, while with the Cavs, hit the game-winning shot over Klay Thompson with 3.4 seconds remaining to top Golden State, 109-108.
This was just months after Irving nailed a 3-point, Game 7 winner in the 2016 finals to stun the 73-win Warriors and deliver Cleveland its only NBA championship.
“The on-court rivalry between Cleveland and Golden State, especially for the fans, was palpable, which makes it fun,” Frye said. “It is a regular-season game, but that’s the closest thing to a playoff environment that we were going to get that year.”
Haslem was part of the epic Shaq vs. Kobe Christmas matchups.
Suns star Deandre Ayton says he remembers the NBA’s Christmas Day broadcast commercials from his youth.
The NBA pitted the two teams — and former teammates who won three straight NBA championships amid beefs and drama with the Lakers — against each other on Christmas from 2004 to 2006.
Haslem was just in his second NBA season for that first battle Miami won in overtime in Los Angeles.
“I was really nervous for that game, playing on that stage,” he said. “Just all the excitement. Even though it was a Christmas Day game, most of the hype was just built around the greatness of Shaq and Kobe.”
Williams remembers watching “Lob City” Clippers on Christmas.
Bridges recalls seeing Paul Pierce and the Celtics.
Horton-Tucker won’t forget Derrick Rose’s floater with 4.8 seconds left to lift Chicago past the Lakers in 2011.
“I remember watching it,” he said. “I was at home with my family.”
Ayton remembers the TV ads.
“The thing that is very memorable was the commercials,” he said. “The Christmas commercials that the NBA players used to get together and do. Those are my favorites. I might not pay attention to the games, but the commercials were everywhere.”
So, he can’t wait to see Booker in this year’s NBA Christmas commercial.
“Oh, I love that,” Ayton said. “He deserves that. He can act now.”
It’s all part of why the NBA and Christmas go hand in hand.
“You’re watching quality basketball while also celebrating something,” the Suns’ Bismack Biyombo said. “I think this is very important. Even for us as players. You get to compete on a special day and also celebrate a special day.”
