The NBA fought back on Christmas, and reminded us it still runs this holiday

The biggest topic of the NBA season so far has been why the current NBA sucks. This story began during a lackluster 2024 NBA All-Star Game (a meaningless exhibition!) and feels like it's completely unraveled ever since. It's impossible to watch a game on TV without a legendary former player telling you how much better the game was 30 years ago. While hardcore fans get defensive about it, it's impossible to go online without seeing casual fans give their own reasons as to why the NBA's ratings are down.

My biggest complaint is that it's out of order. Teams are shooting too many threes, there are too many explosions right now, star players are always injured or absent, games are taking too long to finish, etc. All these issues can be focused on: Christmas. It's a big day for the league, with five nationally televised games and what casual fans would call an unofficial season opener. The NFL's addition of two games to its Christmas schedule only made things more dangerous. Football is king and that means coming up on the NBA's marquee holiday.

When the nation turned its attention to the dire state of professional basketball, something extraordinary happened. The NBA played one great game after another. Meanwhile, the NFL offered two duds that required a subscription service just to watch. Let LeBron James say the best thing after his thrilling final moments los angeles lakers win golden state warriors: “I love the NFL, but Christmas is still our day.”

Basketball was so much fun all day long. There was one game in the soccer feature that I didn't get to watch at all (nothing, though). houston texans) and another featured the types of inevitable champions. kansas city chiefs It was once used as evidence of why the NBA has no appeal. Both leagues are great, but the NBA used Christmas to remind us why these games can be great when they're easily accessible and their star players give it their all.

The Lakers vs. Warriors matchup couldn't have been more interesting. Both teams remained within Western Conference play-in territory, more or less missing out on the historic careers of James and Stephen Curry. Well, for two mid-tier teams aiming to advance to the playoffs, a win or loss in December means a lot, and this game had the intensity of a playoff. The spotlight goes to James and Curry. The two combined for 69 points, each hitting big shots late in the game.

Of course, it was Austin Reeves who ended the game as the hero. Driving layup beats Andrew Wiggins in the final seconds to give the Lakers the win..

The Christmas slate got off to a great start with the first game of the day. new york knicks with Victor Wenbanyama san antonio spurs At Madison Square Garden. This was the most notable match of Wenbanyama's career in the middle of his second professional season, and the former No. 1 overall draft pick put on a show for the world to see. The 7'5 French prodigy played 40 minutes and made six 3-pointers for 42 points, 18 rebounds and four assists.

If this was an introduction to the 20-year-old alien to casual fans, it couldn't have gone any better. The NBA expects Wenbanyama to be the face of the league after LeBron, Curry and Kevin Durant retire, and anyone who watches that game will see that he's off to a good start.

While these numbers are impressive, they don't do justice to the strange phenomenon of watching Wenby. He routinely does things we've never seen before, and we've only just scratched the surface of what he will one day become.

The Knicks clinched the win in the remaining period thanks to a hell of a mid-range shot from Mikal Bridges and gutsy offensive rebounding from Josh Hart.

Isn't midrange supposed to be dead? Did you think NBA players don't play hard? Well, both of these false stories exploded in spectacular fashion for anyone watching this game. Bridges looked like Kevin Durant in his prime as he used his go-go gadget arms to take shots from mid-range. The heart is all about the heart, energy, and muscles.

The Knicks are 20-10, star-studded and should get even better in their first season with Karl-Anthony Towns. If Wenbanyama is the future face of the league, the Knicks could become the most important team in the NBA as the Lakers and Warriors slump.

The other three games were also interesting. of minnesota timberwolves lasted longer than dallas mavericks Despite a huge fourth-quarter comeback led by Dallas star Kyrie Irving. Irving's shot-making is outrageous even in a loss.

of celtics–76ers With Boston cruising and Philadelphia having a hell of a season, this matchup seemed like a failure, but it turned out to be another great game. Joel Embiid was actually playing for Philadelphia for the ninth time all season, dropping 27 points in 31 minutes. Co-star Tyrese Maxey had 33 points and 12 assists. The Celtics pulled away from 3-point range, shooting 20 of 49 on the night for 40.8 percent, but still lost.

The Suns defeated Nikola Jokic's Nuggets in the nightcap. Kevin Durant then tweeted random fans criticizing the NBA all night.

Not all of the NBA's problems are overblown. The biggest culprit behind the idea that players aren't “playing hard” is simply having too many games. If Wilt Chamberlain could play every minute of every game while fans smoked in the stands, why can't today's spoiled kids do the same? Well, it's too much of a burden on my body. “Space Out Era” — Now you can cover more ground faster than ever before. The skill level in the NBA has never been higher, the athleticism has never been deeper, and the level of coaching continues to improve.

Everything wasn't perfect. Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic each went down with injuries. Devin Booker was unable to play with a groin strain, and Jamal Murray had a sluggish return from an ankle injury. But for the most part, the basketball was great, much better than the football, which was mostly highlighted by Beyoncé's halftime show.

The NBA still has its share of problems, but when games are easy to watch and players are willing to put on a show, they can perform at the highest level. At least for one day, it showed how bright the league can be. We all agreed that Christmas merchandise was great.

Could the NBA actually develop this? Let's take a look. But for a league that should be struggling, this slate was just what it needed.