San Antonio Spurs Christmas Game Puzzles Knicks Fans, Shows NBA Prioritizing Wembanyama

The San Antonio Spurs will play on Christmas for the first time since 2016. While the NFL dominates Thanksgiving, the NBA always has a slate of five games on Christmas and makes it a marquee event. Usually, the biggest names and best stars are invited.

The Spurs will play the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden to kick off the holiday festivities and will be followed by the Timberwolves vs. Mavericks, 76ers vs Celtics, Lakers vs. Warriors, and Nuggets vs. Suns.

While Victor Wembanyama is one of the biggest names in basketball, the Spurs are not expected to be in Finals contention this season. The Knicks, after adding Mikal Bridges, will be the main threat to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks also took the Indiana Pacers to seven games in the playoffs last season, reigniting one of the NBA's biggest rivalries in the process. Images of Reggie Miller and Spike Lee flashed in fans' minds, cementing the Knicks and Pacers as a marquee matchup for the next several years.

However, Tyrese Haliburton does not carry the same weight as Wembanyama. Wemby is a global star who is perhaps the biggest name in the NBA (not named LeBron James or Stephen Curry), so the league wants to put him in front of as many eyes as possible.

Interestingly, the early game will likely tip off at noon in New York, which makes it the perfect dinner companion on Christmas in France, tipping off at 6:00 PM in Paris. That will allow European fans, who Adam Silver has recently courted, to watch their biggest star.

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While scheduling a Knicks game against a better team does have some advantages, the NBA wants to push its most marketable star.