Christmas Day is around the corner, and so is the day that’s considered the biggest game day in the sport probably other than the NBA Finals. Last year, the viewership of the 5 games was over 41 million, compared to 12 million views a game for the Finals.
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“I think our fans are conditioned and, quite frankly, look forward to the games on Christmas Day because they tend to be the biggest, most anticipated matchups of the season,” Deputy Commissioner of the NBA, Mark Tatum, told Front Office Sports.
The most anticipated matchups ask for some change for this special day. And Christmas Day jerseys are something that NBA can bring back to make it look special. But will there be some change this season with the jerseys?
Last time NBA had Christmas Day Jerseys
Since Nike took over as NBA’s uniform makers in 2017, they stopped the then ongoing Christmas Day jerseys which Adidas had started back in 2008 with the Snowflake edition jerseys that they ran for four straight seasons. Those jerseys had snowflakes around the logos on them which became popular among fans.
Adidas then came up with the ‘Big Color’ theme in 2012 and the ‘Big Logo’ theme in 2013, both of which were instant hits as well. The three-stripes then brought on the ‘First Name Basis’ in 2014, Christmas Cards in 2015, and Christmas Cards II in 2016.
The latter two were the most famous of all. Maybe because both those seasons had a Cavaliers-Warriors game which is probably some of the most entertaining Christmas Day games of all time.
Fans still want the league to have the Christmas Day gears
It’s time the National Basketball Association, which, much like any other sport, is ‘of the people, for the people, and by the people’ should listen to its fan who wants a change in jersey for Christmas Day.
NBA has got to tell Nike something about it because people already have something to say.
Will this noise go unheard this season as well? Or will Nike loosen their pockets this time? Anyway, they would make a lot more than they invest in these jerseys.
However, the problem might lie somewhere else. These Christmas Day jerseys might sell better than the franchises’ four regular-season jerseys (Association, Icon, City, and Statement) and their demand might make them forget the already available ones. Just a guess.
