NBA Schedule Release: 4 Teams that were snubbed of a Christmas Day game
There are four teams that were snubbed from an NBA Christmas Day game in 2023.
Over the next week or so, there’s an expectation that the NBA is going to slowly begin to release the schedule for the 2023-24 season. And we’ve already begun to see the beginning of that. The Athletic’s Shams Charania has already begun rolling out the schedule for a few of the bigger nights in the NBA.
Shams reported that the opening night schedule will feature the Los Angeles Lakers visiting the defending champion Denver Nuggets followed by the Phoenix Suns squaring off with the Golden State Warriors. That report was followed up by the official NBA Christmas Day slate:
NBA Christmas Day schedule
- Milwaukee Bucks @ New York Knicks
- Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat
- Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers
- Dallas Mavericks @ Phoenix Suns
- Golden State Warriors @ Denver Nuggets
As is always natural, the official release of the NBA Christmas Day schedule did leave some teams empty-handed. We explore four worthy teams that were snubbed out of a Christmas Day game.
Memphis Grizzlies
Interestingly, the Memphis Grizzlies had their first Christmas Day game last season. For one reason or another, they were left off the schedule this year. You can’t help but wonder if the Ja Morant suspension had any play in that.
On paper, the Grizzlies got better this summer. They essentially swapped Dillon Brooks for Marcus Smart. That’s an upgrade no matter how you break that down. Still, the NBA bypassed the Grizzlies on Christmas Day. It seems as if they didn’t want Morant to be a possible distraction on one of the biggest days for the NBA. I guess that’s fair.