Five games are on the slate.
Christmas Day is the annual National Basketball Association coming out party and this Christmas Day, the NBA is offering five contests on cable or over-the-air TV whether the players like it or not. Christmas is just another day. There are games to be played and audiences that want them. The National Hockey League doesn’t schedule games on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the old English holiday, and even has placed a halt on trades over the holiday season from December 19th until the 28th. But sports is entertainment and if movie theaters are open and showing new films, why not have sports events?
The NBA usually owns Christmas Day TV programming with top matchups made for TV and it really kicks off the season even though about a third of the year has already been played. There are five games, the first on ESPN, Philadelphia and New York, three on ABC, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas, then Milwaukee and Boston followed by Memphis and Golden State, a game that will also be seen on ESPN. The final game is also on ESPN with Phoenix and Denver. The NBA will have as many stars on display as possible. Usually, the NBA is pretty much the only game in town on Christmas Day and markets itself that way although there is nothing really special about any of the games as it is just another date on the calendar. There are no college football bowl games but college basketball games are scheduled in Hawaii. The college basketball industry gets back into full mode on December 26th which means Christmas is a travel day for student-athletes. Sports never takes a holiday off. Everyday a sports league is not in the public eye is a day lost where revenues can be made.
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