December 23 is packed with NBA action, and Christmas Day follows with five marquee matchups. Christmas Eve, however, is strangely quiet, with no games scheduled on December 24. The lack of buzz often raises questions among fans. Why does the league go dark on that day, and is this simply a one-off or part of a long-standing NBA tradition?

Are there any NBA games scheduled on Christmas Eve 2025?

There are absolutely no games scheduled for the 24th of December or Christmas Eve this year. However, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise; this situation isn’t unique to just 2025. It follows a long-standing league pattern with no games played on this day in recent memory. In fact, not just the NBA, but there are also no NFL or NHL games played today.

However, that isn’t the case on Christmas Day, when there is a full slate of NBA games all set to be televised nationally. Even the NFL has a tripleheader scheduled for the 25th of December. So again, the question is, why does this happen? What are the factors that have led the league to completely abandon games tonight?

Why does the NBA leave Christmas Eve off the schedule?

Although the NBA has never provided the fans with an actual reason why there are no games scheduled on Christmas Eve, there are a couple of reasons that are widely believed by the masses to be the factors leading to this omission.

Player and staff family time

Many believe that the biggest reason there are no NBA games on Christmas Eve is that the league wants the players and staff to have some time with their families before they head back to work again. Well, this does make a lot of sense.

After all, the players, coaches, and additional staff also want to enjoy the holidays with their loved ones. And even though they might not be able to do so for as long as most of us, this might one day be enough for them to at least cherish the festive season. But that’s not all.

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Travel efficiency

Another huge reason for this halt in NBA games could be the fact that teams and players need time to travel and gear up for the games scheduled on Christmas Day. That’s because teams playing away from home on the 25th travel a day before their game.

This wouldn’t be easy if there were games scheduled on the 24th as well. So, this could be a factor that the league takes into consideration while preparing the season’s schedule.

So, that should probably answer most of the questions regarding why there are no games played on Christmas Eve. But has there ever been an exception?

Has the NBA ever played games on Christmas Eve?

Even though the NBA now treats Christmas Eve as one of its four “dark days” of the year alongside Thanksgiving Day, Election Day, and the NCAA Men’s Championship Finals day, there have been two incidents where games have been played on Christmas Eve. The first time this happened was way back in 1960, when the league was still in the process of establishing its no games on Christmas Eve policy.

That day, the Detroit Pistons took on the Boston Celtics, led by Bill Russell and Bob Cousy. It was the Cs who emerged victorious in that game, and by some margin, 150-106 was the final score in favor of Boston. Nonetheless, the only other time a game was played on the 24th of December was seven years later in 1967, when the then San Francisco Warriors faced the Seattle SuperSonics.

It was the SuperSonics who claimed a massive win that day, beating the Warriors 127-113. These are the only two times when an NBA game was played on Christmas Eve. Now that you know everything that there is to know about the league’s history to this day, why don’t we look at what it has in store for the fans on Christmas Day?

What is the full NBA Christmas Day schedule for 2025?

While there may not be any action on Wednesday, the very next day, NBA fans are about to have a feast, with five exciting matchups lined up for Christmas Day. So, here’s the full schedule for the 25th of December:

So, the stage is set for a thrilling Christmas Day, with several heavyweight clashes set to take place, as everyone eagerly awaits the tip-offs.