New Orleans Pelicans Snubbed Again from NBA Christmas Day Slate

The New Orleans Pelicans will spend Christmas Day at home again this season per reports.

Apr 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) reacts to making a basket against Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) during the second half of a play-in game of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA season is nearly two months away, and leaks of schedules have started to reveal themselves. NBA insider Shams Charania revealed the NBA's Christmas Day games, and again, the New Orleans Pelicans were left off.

Four of the ten teams - Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors - scheduled to play on Christmas Day had a worse record than the Pelicans last season.

NBA Christmas Day games for the 2024-25 season, per sources:

🎄Spurs at Knicks
🎄Timberwolves at Mavericks
🎄76ers at Celtics
🎄Lakers at Warriors
🎄Nuggets at Suns

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 9, 2024

New Orleans finished with the same record as the Phoenix Suns last season but lost the head-to-head season series 2-1 to the Suns. Stars make the marquee matchups, which is why legacy teams like the Lakers and Warriors are playing, even though both teams struggled last year.

The Pelicans have not played a Christmas Day game since 2020, which was an NBA-shortened season because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The New Orleans holiday game that year was their second game of the season. Zion Williamson scored 32 points in the loss to the Miami Heat. Many figured his star power would have him in Christmas Day games for years to come, but that hasn't manifested itself yet.

There is just cause for the Pelicans to appear in one of the big Christmas Day games.

The team is coming off its second-best win total (49) in franchise history. Zion Williamson had the healthiest season of his career, and the team made a big offseason acquisition by acquiring former Hawks guard Dejounte Murray.

With Williamson, Murray, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy III, and Herb Jones, the team boasts one of the most talented rosters in the Western Conference when healthy. The Pelicans are expected to be in the mix for another playoff appearance.

New Orleans has made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons under Head Coach Willie Green. Under his direction, the Pelicans have increased their win total in each of the three seasons with him at the forefront.

Another winning season for the Pelicans this year would be their first three straight winning seasons in franchise history.

The team's official schedule has not been released, but it appears New Orleans will not appear in the marquee holiday day games.

The Pelicans revealed their preseason schedule earlier this summer and also announced their training camp schedule. New Orleans plays their first preseason game at home against the Orlando Magic on October 7th.