‘Tis the season to be competitive. Not between Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, no. Between two different sports. The NBA announced its holiday schedule which includes a five-game slate on Christmas Day. If there’s something sports fans hate more than not getting what they want, it’s having to choose. It’s now become very obvious that the NBA is directly competing with NFL on its biggest nights. The NFL went first with its announcement this time. Which means the NBA has to face fans’ ire.
As per Shams Charania, Christmas Day for the NBA is going to look as follows.
Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks
San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Denver Nuggets
So, the Knicks will have a shot at redemption against the team that swept them last playoffs. Wemby’s new and improved squad will be facing off against the reigning champions and the MVP. A young Rockets squad will contend with LeBron James if he stays put in LA. We’re going to get Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, and a hopefully healthy Anthony Davis go against Klay Thompson’s former team that includes Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. And Anthony Edwards will be tested against Nikola Jokic. Does that look enticing enough?
Not hard to figure why the Ant vs Joker matchup is saved for last when viewer fatigue might set in. With the NFL returning to a full Christmas tripleheader this year, it would seem fairly evident that the league did not want to use up its very best matchups on the holiday. The NBA is instead pitting stars against NFL.
While the Nuggets tie up NBA’s Christmas present, the city’s other team, the Broncos will take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Which means the NBA is once again bringin LeBron, Curry, and Jokic to compete against Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s Swiftie effect. Ironically, this comes after LeBron admitted to the Kelce brothers on their New Heights podcast that the NFL beat the NBA in terms of viewership.
NBA Christmas Day 2025 on ABC and ESPN, per sources:
– Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks
– San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder
– Houston Rockets at LA Lakers
– Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors
– Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 8, 2025
Last year, this competition actually helped the NBA — recording its highest ratings in a decade. It might be hoping to repeat its success after a lacklustre NBA Finals. Fans just hate how it makes life more difficult for them.
The NBA throws fans’ Christmas plans out of loop
Look, we get it. Now that the NBA isn’t the sole entertainer of Christmas Day anymore, they have to walk a fine balance between going all in and holding a few cards. So certain teams get to spend Christmas with their loved ones and maybe swap between basketball and football games. Thanks to one enterprising fan who ran the poll, “Did the NBA get this right?” we can see that 56% fans believe no.
Among this percentile are fans who lost their motivation when their teams were left out. Like this person who seems to bleed green declared, “No Celtics on Christmas???? We watching NFL.” They’re not the only ones dissatisfied that the NBA broke away from ‘tradition’ by not including the Celtics. Yet some are even convinced Steph Curry won’t get Christmas Day off until he retires.
The NFL drew a massive 65 million viewers last Christmas. Meanwhile the NBA’s five game slate drew an average 5.25 million per game, although a big improvement for the NBA recently, it pales before the NBA. This year, the entire lineup will look different too as the games will be on NBC and Amazon who promise to change the already evolving landscape and give fans a well-packaged basketball Christmas.
Those who are definitely leaning towards the NBA are upset about not getting the storyline they’re emotionally invested in. Even we question, “why not do mavs lakers and rockets warriors?” given the new narrative of Cooper Flagg replacing Luka Doncic as Dallas’ superstar.
These teams were cherry-picked for a reason, evident in the imbalance of conference games. “4 western conference games and one eastern? This makes no sense,” one commenter claims. But it actually makes sense that the NBA is relying on its big markets in the West – the Lakers and Warriors. Even if, “Mavericks at Warriors is such a weak matchup lol.” Because Klay back in the Bay was milked last year.
Adam Silver firmly refused to change the NBA Christmas into a Christmas Eve holiday. Although the NFL is encroaching on their 75-year-old tradition, his strategy is to thrive off the competition. Instead of narratives and drama, the NBA is capitalizing on the West’s star power, and the East’s standings-relevant matchup. If anything will change that, it might be the ongoing free agency.
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