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Hornets remain the only NBA team to never play a Christmas Day game

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James Foglio
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James Foglio Sports Editor

James is a Basketball Insiders contributor. He earned his bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. James enjoys watching sports and helping gamblers win money.

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Sports Editor

Updated18 Aug 2023

Charlotte Hornets remain the only NBA team to never play a Christmas Day game

The Charlotte Hornets remain the only NBA team to have never played a Christmas Day game. The Memphis Grizzlies appeared in their first Dec. 25 game last season against the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State defeated Memphis 123-109 at Chase Center. The NBA has scheduled games on Christmas Day ever since the league made it an annual tradition in 1947, its second season.

Since 2008, five games have been played on Christmas. Unlike the NFL’s traditional Thanksgiving Day games, the NBA’s Christmas Day games have no fixed opponents. Since 1995, the defending NBA champions play a game on this date every year.

According to a few NBA betting sites, the Charlotte Hornets hold 30th-ranked odds to win next season’s championship in 2024. Check out which sportsbooks are showing better odds for the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Orlando Magic.


The first NBA game played on Dec. 25 came in 1947, when the New York Knicks won 89-75 against the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden. Since then, the NBA has played games every year on Christmas Day, excluding the NBA lockout in the 1998-99 season.

The Knicks have played 54 games on Christmas Day, the most of all 30 teams. New York has a 23-31 overall record on this date. New York has the second-most wins by a team on Christmas Day and the most losses.

Charlotte Hornets are still the only NBA team to have never played a Christmas Day game in league history; Los Angeles Lakers have the most wins on Dec. 25 with 24

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers have the most wins on Dec. 25 with 24. The Lakers’ all-time Christmas Day record is 24-25. In the 2022-23 season, L.A. lost 124-115 to the Dallas Mavericks.

In 2019, the NBA’s first Christmas Day game was held outside the United States. The Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors 118-102 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.

The most featured rivalry matchup on Dec. 25 is Knicks vs. 76ers. These teams have squared off on this date 13 times. New York is 8-5 against Philadelphia. The Eastern Conference teams played on Christmas Day in 1953, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2017, and 2022.


Celtics-Knicks is the second-most featured matchup. The teams have met eight times on this date. Boston is also 5-3 against New York on this day. These teams have played on Dec. 25 in 1954, 1958, 1959, 1967, 1980, 1985, 2011, and 2016.

The Charlotte Hornets have not made the playoffs since 2016. Under majority owner Michael Jordan, the Hornets won only seven games in the 2011-12 season. Charlotte fans are hoping for radical change under the new ownership group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.

Not playing a game on Christmas Day is the least of the Hornets’ problems.

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