The USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team, [1] commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, represents the United States of America in. USA TODAY delivers current local and national news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, videos and VR. Atlantic 10 Conference Official Athletic Sites,News, scores, schedules, stats, live video, live audio, on-demand video. National Basketball Association Christmas games. Games held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Christmas Day, December 2. Currently, five games are played on Christmas. Unlike the National Football League (NFL)'s traditional Thanksgiving Day games, the NBA's Christmas Day games have no fixed opponents; rather, they feature some of the best teams and players.[2] Very often a rematch of the previous season's NBA Finals are showcased on Christmas Day. History[edit]Clippers Coach Doc Rivers (left) and Phil Jackson (right) have participated on Christmas Day as both player and coach. Jackson is tied for the most coaching victories on Christmas Day and won his 1,0. Christmas Day in 2. The first NBA game played on December 2. NBA's inception, when the New York Knicks beat the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden 8. Since then, the NBA has played games every year on Christmas Day except in 1. This makes the NBA the only league to regularly schedule games on December 2. In the early days, regional proximity dictated most of the matchups.[3] Teams would usually play their geographical rivals to cut down on holiday travel and to allow them to have more time with their families.[3] According to Dr. Jack Ramsay, who coached the Portland Trail Blazers from 1. Christmas meant being at home with the family and having a game we always won. That was a perfect Christmas to me."[3] He set the record for most coaching victories on Christmas Day with 1. Phil Jackson later matched in 2. In the early 1. 98. New York Knicks put on a show three years in a row. In one game (1. 98. Bernard King scoring 6. Christmas Day,[1] With the advent of television and the excitement caused by these games, the NBA decided to scheduled games over the holiday that showcased the best teams and players.[3]Teams and players[edit]The Knicks have played the most Christmas Day games than any other team, with 4. They are 2. 2–2. Their most recent Yuletide appearance came in 2. Oklahoma City Thunder 1. Madison Square Garden. It was the worst loss by a home team on Christmas Day in NBA history.[7] The Knicks have a checkered history on the 2. Their 2. 2 wins are the most by a team on Christmas Day.[4] Their 2. Some players have participated on Christmas Day as both player and coach. Doc Rivers played with the Knicks in 1. Boston Celtics from 2. Phil Jackson, who also participated as a player and coach, has been a part of at least 2. Christmas every year from 1. He won his 1,0. 00th game on Christmas Day in 2. Kobe Bryant has never coached on Christmas, but he has played 1. In fact, he has played more often on Christmas than on any other date on the calendar, playing his first in 1. Many teams and players that have played on this day have worn special uniforms and sneakers.[1. From 2. 00. 9 to 2. Knicks wore their third jersey, the green/orange alternate which they first used exclusively for St. Patrick's Day. During the game between the Heat and the Lakers in 2. Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom wore lime- green Nike kicks[1. James and Chris Bosh wore holiday- red shoes with garish green laces.[1. From 2. 00. 8 to 2. Features athlete profiles, daily online blogs, videos and photos from the games. Christmas Day wore a patch featuring the NBA logo inside a snowflake. Since the 2. 01. 2–1. NBA and Adidas produced special uniforms for the Christmas games. All of these uniforms feature a particular theme, such as monochromatic designs ('Big Color') and chrome- treated logos ('Big Logo'). Memorable moments[edit]The NBA Christmas- Day contests have featured some of the most memorable games ever played.[2][1. Bernard King scored 6. New York Knicks in 1. Patrick Ewing helped the Knicks come back to beat the Boston Celtics after trailing by 2. He then beat Michael Jordan and the Bulls on a last- second jumper in 1. Scottie Pippen performed a last- second block in 1. The first showdown featuring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal as opponents occurred on Christmas, 2. Le. Bron James and Kobe Bryant.[3][1. Phil Jackson becoming the fastest coach to win 1,0. December 2. 5, 2. In 2. 01. 2, Kobe Bryant became the all- time Christmas Day scorer with 3. Oscar Robertson who scored 3. As a result of a lockout in 2. Christmas Day was also the season opener.[1. ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy talked about that day, saying, "It's a different opening day than has ever happened in the past and Christmas Day games have always been a big day for the NBA. This unique situation combined with the unveiling of a championship banner for the Mavericks in a finals rematch, and then to see the Lakers and the debut of Mike Brown as head coach, those things are all going to be very compelling."[1. Rivalries have also been showcased during games played on this day. During the 1. 99. Christmas but one featured a game involving either the New York Knicks or the Chicago Bulls, with the two teams playing against each other twice (in the Bulls championship season of 1. They would have met a third time in 1. The only year during the 1. Christmas Day was during the Bulls first championship season in their second three- peat, in 1. During the 2. 00. NBA showcased the Shaq–Kobe feud. Since 1. 99. 9, each Christmas has featured games involving either the Celtics or the Lakers, with both teams playing on the holiday in 2. In a great pairing, the two teams faced off against each in other during the first of the Lakers' most recent back- to- back championship seasons of 2. This was the first meeting between the two teams since the finals of the year before. The home team is 1. Christmas games. The winning percentage of . Christmas Day is better than the overall winning percentage for home teams during the regular season or the playoffs since 1. Christmas Day standings[edit]Of current NBA franchises.[2. Scheduling and broadcasting[edit]After a season's NBA Finals comes to an end, officials from both the NBA and the network that broadcast the NBA meet to plan the schedule of games for the holiday during the upcoming season.[3] In most cases, two of the teams that play during the holiday are the teams that reached the finals the previous season, and often a rematch of the NBA Finals is scheduled.[3] The NBA usually tries to have the best players play against each other.[3] Some examples of this include 2. Los Angeles Lakers played at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2. Miami Heat in 2. 01. Kobe Bryant and Le. Bron James both times.[3][1. Broadcasting[edit]The first telecast of an NBA game on Christmas Day dates back to the league's early years. In 1. 94. 7, the Providence Steamrollers played in New York against the Knicks on WCBS channel 2 at 9 p. Eastern Time. Stan Lomax and Bob Edge called that game. Fifteen minutes later, at 8: 1. Central Time, Joe Wilson broadcast the game between Baltimore Bullets and Chicago Stags for WBKB channel 4 in Chicago. The first nationally televised Christmas Day NBA broadcast occurred in 1. ABC broadcast a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Diego Rockets from San Diego. Jerry Gross and Jack Twyman called that broadcast for ABC. ABC would continue to televise Christmas Day games through 1. Chris Schenkel did play- by- play for ABC during this period with the exception of 1. Keith Jackson had the honors. Jack Twyman remained in the color commentating position up until 1. Bill Russell took over. From 1. 97. 5- 1. CBS broadcast a game on Christmas Day. However, it was not until 1. CBS broadcast the game between the New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks and ESPN broadcast the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers (Sam Smith and Dick Vitale were on the call for ESPN).[1. In the 1. 99. 0s, NBC broadcast a doubleheader each year on Christmas Day and this has continued after ABC took over in 2. ABC broadcast only one game. For three years (2. ABC insisted on having a Christmas Day game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers so that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal could play against each other. Since ABC took over the NBA, ESPN has also broadcast games on Christmas Day (except in 2. Since 2. 00. 9, Christmas Day broadcasts on ESPN/ABC have featured a music video with Mariah Carey singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You."[2. In 2. 01. 0, Carey added "Oh Santa!"[2. In 2. 00. 8, TNT broadcast on Christmas Day for the first time as Marv Albert, Mike Fratello and Craig Sager called the game between Washington and Cleveland in Cleveland and Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Cheryl Miller called the game between Dallas and Portland in Portland. This marked the first time that all three networks that cover the NBA (ABC, ESPN, and TNT) produced games on Christmas Day. This happened again in 2. TNT broadcast their next Christmas game, the very first game of the 2. It was a contest between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden with Albert (himself a former Knicks broadcaster) calling the game with Steve Kerr.[1. ABC broadcast the Dallas Mavericks raising their 2. Championship banner during their pre- game show. This marked the first time in NBA history that a pre- game championship banner ceremony has been aired on a terrestrial television network; either Turner Sports or a regional sports network aired the ceremonies in previous years. Reception[edit]Mike D'Antoni said that the players should feel "very fortunate" to play on Christmas Day and said that they could adjust their schedules a bit. There has been controversy surrounding the tradition of NBA games on Christmas Day. Certainly there is praise. It's not hard to find fans, players, coaches, spokespeople for the networks that broadcast the NBA, and members of the news media who support the tradition. For players and coaches, the standard public statement is that a Christmas game is an honor, as it's not only a chance to play on national television, but also a reward for having a great team and great players.[3]Before the game between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic at Amway Arena in 2. Christmas as a reward. Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said that like most of the players, he always watched Christmas Day games growing up. NBC Olympics | Home of the 2. Olympic Games in Rio. For many Olympic athletes, family plays a crucial role in the journey to such a large stage. The Rio Summer Olympics kick off Aug. NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra. Year- round Olympic Sports coverage on NBCSports. News and videos | Live stream and TV schedule.
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