The Chase Center roared as Lebron James and Stephen Curry faced off in another Christmas Day clash. Curry hit one of his iconic “Curry range” three–pointers to tie the game with just over seven seconds left in the fourth quarter. However, the storyline flipped just seconds later when Lakers guard Austin Reaves weaved through the lane for a last–second driving layup that stunned Golden State and sealed an LA victory. 

After his record–breaking 19th Christmas Day game in 2024, James declared “I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” in a postgame interview with ESPN. He wasn’t just referring to the game that had just finished, he was weighing in on a growing debate: which American sport gets to claim Christmas?

 Holidays and sports have long been intertwined. When paired, each tends to amplify the other, creating long lasting traditions. For decades, Christmas belonged almost exclusively to the National Basketball Association. Since the league’s second season in 1947, Dec. 25 has been a day that the NBA gets to showcase their top talents and marquee rivalries with festive details, usually not having to worry about competition with other professional sports. 

However, the National Football league has recently started to schedule games on Dec. 25. The NFL has only played 32 total games on Christmas Day, and started playing annually in 2020. So, should the NFL, which already has the best viewership amongst any professional sport in America, be encouraged to have games on one of the only days that the NBA has had exclusive viewership to?

These two major sporting leagues overlap every year from mid–October until early February. The NFL and NBA rank as the top two most watched U.S. sports leagues by viewership per game, with the NFL leading every other league by a fair margin, according to nielsen.com. Thus, the NFL does not need more ways to increase its viewership compared to the other leagues like the NBA who are constantly trying to implement new ideas to increase their viewership. 

The NBA has recently added the NBA Cup to its schedule which is an in–season tournament that gives teams the opportunity to compete in a playoff–like environment. There are many details such as different colored floors, money incentives and different playing locations that were introduced in order to give the long 82 game regular season a more exciting flair. The NBA also introduced City–Edition uniforms in the 2017–’18 season which are celebrations of local culture for each organization. Even while launching these new changes in an effort to increase viewership, the NBA has respected its competition with the NFL. 

The equivalent of the NBA on Christmas Day is the NFL on Thanksgiving. It has been a tradition since 1934 and has become an essential part of many families’ celebrations. On Thanksgiving Day in 2024, the NFL set a record for their highest total unduplicated audience for all football games on the holiday to date. Across the three games that were played the total viewership was 141 million, according to nfl.com.

 The NFL also owns the most watched sporting event in America every year, the Super Bowl. The 2025 championship game drew a record average of 127.7 million viewers, making it the most–watched U.S. telecast of all time, according to cnbc.com.

Despite the NFL playing games on major days for basketball, the NBA has maintained a tradition to take the day off for Thanksgiving and purposely plays minimal, early games on Super Bowl Sunday, according nbcsports.com.

Some fans argue that the NFL should play on days like Christmas because it attracts unmatched viewership, but that misses the point. Allowing the NFL to claim Christmas Day invites unnecessary competition between leagues across the country and reduces the variety of sports traditions Americans enjoy. Not every event must belong to the biggest brand.

The historic tradition of basketball on Christmas has become one of many fans’ favorite days to watch basketball, not because the NFL usually doesn’t play that day, but because of the excitement the NBA builds for these festive games.

Whether it’s the holiday–themed uniforms and courts or the NBA Finals rematch from the season before, basketball in America has been a must–watch on Dec. 25. The NBA has delivered year after year providing fans with the most attention–grabbing matchups between the world’s biggest stars, so even if the local team is not playing fans will still be glued to the television watching playoff–like environments.

This season’s five–game Christmas Day slate is headlined by a marquee Western Conference showdown between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers, where LeBron James will make a record 20th Christmas Day appearance. He’ll be facing off against Kevin Durant who has played in 11 holiday games himself. Earlier in the day, the Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks in what could be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. The defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten off to a blazing start, winning 19 of their first 20 games, will look to continue their success against the San Antonio Spurs, led by 7 ‘5” rising superstar Victor Wembanyama. The last two games feature more stars, with names like Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokić, and Anthony Edwards taking the floor.

So in a few weeks time, when Christmas morning arrives, turn the television to ESPN or ABC not only to enjoy festive basketball but to also keep a cherished tradition alive.