It’s a tradition we’ve all come to know and love- the NBA on Christmas Day. The NFL has Thanksgiving. College basketball has St. Patrick’s Day. College Football has New Year’s Day, and they’re trying to claim New Year’s Eve as their own, but it’s going over like a lead balloon thus far. Boxing Day (December 26th) belongs to The English Premier League while Yuletide is one with the National Basketball Association.
On Sunday, Dec. 25, ABC and ESPN will combine to present over 13 consecutive hours of NBA action over five games. It’s the NBA on Christmas Day for the 15th consecutive year on ABC/ESPN. They don’t really have to compete with the NFL either.
The NBA on Christmas Day will only have to compete with two NFL games, and they’ll do so with their biggest brand name teams, as per tradition. If you choose to move to the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, L.A. Lakers, San Antonio Spurs etc. you will most likely be playing on the biggest holiday of the year.
We covered this in a feature story for the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition, we spoke with numerous Chicago Bulls players about how it’s bittersweet to be playing at the time when everyone is Merry and bright. It’s a double edged sword. Hey, there are special new limited edition uniforms and shoes.
In the second game within ABC’s afternoon doubleheader, the Chicago Bulls and Dwyane Wade will visit the San Antonio Spurs and Pau Gasol, you know him well Bulls fans. (we spoke with Gasol for the story)
NBA Countdown
Michelle Beadle, Jalen Rose, Chauncey Billups
ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
12 p.m. Boston Celtics at New York Knicks
Ryan Ruocco, Doug Collins
ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
ABC 2:30 p.m. Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers
Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Lisa Salters
ABC, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN, ESPN Radio
5 p.m. Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs
Mark Jones, Hubie Brown, Israel Gutierrez ABC, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN, ESPN Radio
8 p.m. Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder
Adam Amin, Doris Burke ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
10:30 p.m. LA Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers
Dave Pasch, Jon Barry, J.A. Adande ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.