ESPN Insider Says NBA Made a Mistake Snubbing OKC Thunder From Christmas Day

The Oklahoma City Thunder used to be a Christmas Staple. This season, the OKC Thunder have been snubbed from the slate, despite its no. 1 seed standing for the second straight year. ESPN's insiders discussed how the NBA dropped the ball.

Dec 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets in a semifinal of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images / Candice Ward-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been one of the best teams in basketball for two years running now. The Thunder used to be a holiday hoops staple when Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were gracing the Bricktown hardwood. However, that all stopped in 2018 with Oklahoma City still awaiting its return to the Christmas Day slate.

Working on the holiday is one of the biggest marks of success in the NBA. Dec. 25 represents the highest rated date on the league's regular season calendar, some going as far as to say the league unofficially starts on that date for casual fans.

This is also when everyone tunes it, a massive performance hours after St. Nick shimmies down the Chimney skyrockets a players Q-Rating.

On Monday the tri-weekly Hoop Collective released its first podcast of the week. Three of ESPN's largest basketball personality in Tim McMahon, Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst spoke at length about the Oklahoma City Thunder, including the NBA's lack of marketing for them on its Christmas Day slate.

“This is a team over the next 5 years is going to win a lot of playoff series. They’re going to play deep into May. Likely into June in some occasions. You better figure out how to make this a marketable franchise,” McMahon said.

“Oklahoma City is absolutely forcing its way into the casual fan consciousness. The league screwed up. The Thunder were the No. 1 seed in the West last year with that much young talent absolutely should’ve been on Christmas. The NBA needs to figure out how to market Oklahoma City," McMahon continued.

His other two co-hosts agreed and highlighted Christmas Day specifically as a missed chance for the league to showcase one of the best young teams in the association.

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