Paul George, Jrue Holiday react to NFL playing games on Christmas Day
12/24/2024 02:34 PM
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is an NFL holiday, while Christmas is an NBA holiday. This year, though, the NFL took both, and Paul George and Jrue Holiday aren’t feeling it.
George and Holiday spoke about it on PG’s show “Podcast P,” presented by Wave Sports and Entertainment.
PG: "[Christmas] will always be NBA's Day…. There's just something special about that."
Jrue: "No offense to football, but it's basketball season."
Paul George and Jrue Holiday on Christmas Day football
(via @PodcastPShow)
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 24, 2024
“I’m not gonna lie, growing up, it was always basketball for me,” Holiday said. “I knew I was watching basketball on Christmas morning. I knew a Laker game was gonna be on, so I was tuned in.”
The NFL is pulling out all the stops to maximize viewership, as it partnered with Netflix to air both the Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers game at 1 PM EST and the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans game at 4:30 PM EST. As if having two games with massive playoff implications wasn’t enough, Beyonce will perform at halftime of the Ravens-Texans bout.
“I do love the growth of the NFL, but I feel like that day will always be the NBA’s day,” George admitted. “Obviously Beyonce is Beyonce, I don’t want the Beyhive to come for me. The NBA on Christmas Day, it’s just something special about that.”
“Remember when the NBA had the Christmas Day jerseys with the cursive and all that?” Holiday asked.
“Oh yeah, I miss that,” George said.
“It was just something different. No offense to football, I love watching football, but it’s basketball season,” Holiday proclaimed.
“We don’t play games on Thanksgiving,” George reminded the NFL. “It’s football, we want to watch football. We want to eat and watch football, that’s y’all day.”
While tradition is one of the driving forces that holds society together, so is money. Unfortunately for the NBA, the NFL isn’t here to play nice.
The NBA isn’t backing down, though. The league is airing five games on ESPN and ABC from noon through midnight EST, via NBA.com. The slate kicks off with the San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks contest, followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers-Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors, and the Denver Nuggets-Phoenix Suns games.
George and Holiday, of course, will face off in the Sixers-Celtics matchup, as the former plays for Philadelphia and the latter plays for Boston.
While the two leagues competing for viewership on Christmas creates a cluttered sports schedule, true NBA and NFL fans will be in heaven flipping back and forth between all of the games.
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