National Basketball Association Christmas games

The first NBA game played on December 25 came in 1947, a year after the NBA's inception, when the New York Knicks Defeat the Providence Steamrollers in Madison Square Garden 89–75.

Since then, the NBA has played with games every year on Christmas Day except in 1998 (when a lockout canceled half the 1998–99 year ). In contrast, Major League Baseball is at its own off-season throughout Christmas, the National Football League only programs Christmas games when Christmas falls on the weekend (and even then only schedules games on Christmas sometimes ) and the National Hockey League's collective bargaining agreement forbids playing games on Christmas Day (and, except when it falls on a Saturday, Christmas Eve too ). In college football, the only bowl game traditionally scheduled for Christmas has been the defunct Aloha Bowl (and for a single season, its replacement, the Hawaii Bowl). Therefore, the NBA is the only league.
From the first days proximity dictated the majority of the matchups. Teams and their geographic rivals would perform with also to let them have additional time with their families and to cut down on holiday travel. According to Dr. Jack Ramsay, who coached the Portland Trail Blazers from 1976–77 (their sole tournament season) into 1986,"Christmas meant being at home with the family and using a match we always won. That was a great Christmas to me." He set the record for most coaching victories on Christmas Day with 11, an achievement that Phil Jackson afterwards matched in 2008.
The New York Knicks placed on a show three years. In one match (1984), hall-of-fame forward Bernard King scoring 60 points–the most ever scored by a player on Christmas Day, Together with the dawn of television and the excitement caused by these games, the NBA decided to scheduled matches over the vacation which showcased the best players and teams.

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