Phil Jackson recently spoke out against playing on Christmas day, saying that it's not done in other sports and that the expansion of the holiday schedule has gone too far.
"It used to be two teams," Jackson said, according to ESPN. "It used to be Phoenix and L.A. and New York and Boston or New York and Philly or somebody on the East coast. Now I see that they have like six games on Christmas."
"I don't think anybody should play on Christmas Day," Jackson continued. "Soccer teams don't play this time of year, they take a break. I don't understand it."
As the son of a minister, Jackson also isn't completely OK with having to work on the religious holiday.
"It's like Christian holidays don't mean anything to them anymore," said Jackson, the son of a minister. "We just go out and play and entertain the TV. It's really weird."
Still, Christmas NBA games have become a tradition of sorts and often feature dream matchups. This year, the Magic and Celtics will face off in a rematch of the brutal playoff rivalry of the last couple of years, and Kobe Bryant will take on LeBron James in the marquee matchup. From the fan's perspective, having games on Christmas is clearly a winning venture.
Should the NBA schedule games on Christmas Day? Leave your thoughts below.
