Celebrating the holidays with a helping of basketball and football | The GIST

Save one lockout-cancelled holiday in 1998, the NBA’s top teams have met on December 25th each year since 1947, just one year after the Basketball Association of America (which later became the NBA) was formed.

• Twenty years later, the LA Lakers played the San Diego Rockets in what became the first nationally televised Christmas Day game, the first of many to be watched with full stomachs and a side of festive fun.

Needless to say, the NBA and yuletide cheer have gone hand in hand for decades, with two legendary players setting records and taking names on the coveted Christmas Day stage:

• In 1984, the Knicks’ Bernard King set the Christmas Day points record, scoring 60 against the then–New Jersey Nets, a record that still stands 39 years later.

• And we can’t forget about the King of Christmas himself, Lakers star LeBron James, who is the all-time Christmas Day scoring leader, amassing 476 points over an NBA record 18 appearances. Stuffing the stat sheet and your stockings.

Thirteen straight hours of Christmas Day hoops begins tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET with a loaded five-game slate that features starpower, playoff rematches, and classic rivalries. The gift that keeps on giving.

🫒 San Antonio Spurs vs. NY Knicks at 12 p.m. ET: Spurs superstar and defending Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama playing in the most iconic arena in hoops on Christmas Day? Say less. Every great player has a marquee Christmas moment, so watch for Wemby to make some noise in this one — unless Jalen Brunson and the new-look Knicks quash the Frenchman’s festive fun.

🧀 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Dallas Mavericks at 2:30 p.m. ET: Much like your holiday cheese board consumption, the action isn’t slowing down with this Western Conference Finals rematch. The Mavs’ dynamic duo of Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić will be looking to gift the Anthony Edwards–led Timberwolves another crushing defeat, this time with a side of cranberry sauce.

🍠 Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics at 5 p.m. ET: If you asked at the beginning of the season, we would have said we were most excited for this hoopsmas showdown. But unlike Sixer Joel Embiid’s penchant for being injured, things change — Philly’s managed just 10 wins on the season compared to the defending champ Celtics’ 22. If only Santa could spare Rudolph.

🍗 LA Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors at 8 p.m. ET: Forget Christmas magic, this tilt is all about millennial magic as veterans LA’s LeBron James and Golden State’s Stephen Curry go head-to-head. Father Time’s undefeated, but with James and Curry averaging a cool 23.2 and 21.8 points, respectively, now’s definitely not the time to tie a bow on either hooper’s career.

🥧 Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns at 10:30 p.m. ET: The inimitable Nikola Jokić has won three of the last four MVPs — and he’s better this season, averaging a near triple-double. But the aforementioned Durant also knows how to spread holiday cheer, putting up dominant numbers in nearly all of his yuletide appearances. Tee up a post-meal latte because it’s time for dessert.

The NFL couldn’t stand idly by while the NBA hogged all the holiday cheer. Tomorrow marks the first time in league history they’ll be Christmas Day action on a Wednesday.

Typically, the NFL only held games on Christmas when the holiday fell on a traditional football-playing day (aka Sunday, Monday, or Thursday) — which has been the case for the last few years.

• Up until March, the league was vehement they wouldn’t play Christmas Day games on Tuesdays or Wednesdays: Playing midweek could be seen as a player safety issue and would disrupt both team prep and player recovery.

• To minimize this ahead of tomorrow’s tilts, all four teams competing on the holiday played last Saturday (instead of Sunday).

And the demand for festive football is there — the league aired three games on Christmas Day (which happened to be a Monday) last season and brought in historic viewership numbers. With two marquee matchups lined up, even the Grinch wouldn’t want to miss out on the action.

With a two-game slate lined up and an influx of cold hard cash on its way for the league, let’s carol our way through the second part of the Christmas Day sports offerings.

On the first day of Christmas football, the NFL gave to us:

4️⃣ Four teams-a-playing — all of which play in the American Football Conference (AFC)

3️⃣ Three superstar singing appearances — Pentatonix, Mariah Carey, and Beyoncé

2️⃣ Two games on Netflix:

🎁 Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET: There’s only one thing on Kansas City’s Christmas list: Locking down the AFC’s No. 1 seed and the coveted first-round bye that comes with it. All they have to do to clinch it is top the Steelers — but that’s easier said than done with Pittsburgh’s quest for the AFC North crown coming down to the wire.

🎁 Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET: Whether you’re tuning in for the Beyoncé concert or the two-pronged attack of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, it’s going to be epic. Both squads have already punched their postseason tickets, but with divisional glory still up for grabs, Baltimore has plenty to play for.

1️⃣ And a full day of switching between screens.