Jalen Williams’ plan for Thursday is mapped out like this: Presents in the morning, then a game in the afternoon.
To the former Gilbert Perry High School standout, that sounds like an exceptional Christmas.
Williams and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder — who felt snubbed by the Christmas schedule makers a year ago — are on the league’s slate of showcase games this year, taking on the San Antonio Spurs as part of the annual Dec. 25 quintuple header.
The schedule, with all times MST: Cleveland at New York gets things started at 10 a.m., followed by the Spurs at the Thunder at 12:30 p.m., Dallas at Golden State at 3 p.m., Houston at the Los Angeles Lakers at 6 p.m. and Minnesota at Denver at 8:30 p.m.
“As a basketball player, I feel like you grow up — actually, if you’re a sports fan, you grow up watching sports on Christmas. To be able to be a part of it is really cool,” Williams said. “What time do we play, 1:30 (Central)? Yeah, we’re like the cool game. Like, 1:30, presents have already been opened and everybody’s kind of watching the games. I’m really looking forward to that.”
For most of the Thunder, it’ll be a first: The only current Oklahoma City players who have scored in a Christmas game are Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. And it’ll be the second Christmas game for San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, whose holiday debut last year was a 42-point, 18-rebound effort against New York.
“It’s a big day for the NBA and the guys are excited to play on that slate of games,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s one of 82 at the end of the day, but it is an elevated circumstance because of the attention on the game and the noise around it. Those are good experiences for any team and certainly for us.”
The Thunder are an NBA-best 26-4 this season — 26-2 against every team but the Spurs, 0-2 against the Spurs. San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 130-110 on Tuesday, after ousting the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals earlier this month.
“They’re going to be locked in, like, more than any time before, probably,” Wembanyama said of the looming meeting.
For LeBron James, it will not be a first: If he plays Thursday with the Lakers, it’ll be his 20th Christmas game. That’s more than 17 current franchises have played in their existence.
“I’d much rather be at home with my family,” James said. “But it’s a game, it’s the game I love, it’s a game I watched when I was a kid on Christmas Day, watching a lot of the greatest play the game on Christmas. It’s always been an honor to play it. I’m going to be completely honest: I would like to be home on the couch with my family all throughout the day, but my number is called, our number is called, so we have to go out and perform.”
LeBron on Christmas
James playing in his 20th game on the holiday would mean the record books will need updating again when this holiday slate is complete.
He already is the all-time Christmas leader in games played, points (507), wins (11), field goals (180) and 3-pointers made (31, tied with James Harden).
Up next: assists, steals and free throws. James is currently second in Christmas assists with 137, eight behind Oscar Robertson. He also is second in steals with 28, two behind Russell Westbrook, and second in free throws made with 116 — nine behind Robertson on that list.
James is sixth in Christmas rebounds with 143, one behind No. 5 Dolph Schayes, nine behind No. 4 Wilt Chamberlain and 12 behind No. 3 Shaquille O’Neal. (No. 1 Bill Russell, with 176, and No. 2 Wes Unseld, with 163, are probably safe from James this year.)
More about 3s
While James and Harden are tied atop the 3-pointers made list, some other familiar names could rise with big efforts on Thursday.
Dallas’ Klay Thompson enters the day No. 3 on the list with 27 made 3s on Christmas, one ahead of Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Houston’s Kevin Durant.
Still waiting
The wait goes on for some teams.
Sacramento hasn’t played on Dec. 25 since 2003, Indiana — which might have gotten the nod this year if Tyrese Haliburton didn’t get hurt in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — hasn’t made the Christmas list since 2004 and Detroit hasn’t since 2005.
To put that into context, it should be noted that Seattle — which hasn’t had a team in nearly two decades — played its last Christmas game in 2007, or more recently than the Kings, Pacers and Pistons have.
Orlando hasn’t played on the holiday since 2011, and Chicago hasn’t since 2016. Meanwhile, Boston’s nine-year streak of Christmas appearances comes to an end this year.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Lakers are playing on Christmas for the 27th consecutive year and Golden State is playing on Christmas for a 13th consecutive season.
“Just excited for another big game on Christmas Day,” Curry said Monday after the Warriors won their second straight to get to 15-15 on the season and go into the holiday with a bit of momentum. “The vibes are good right now.”
Welcome, kid
Dallas’ Cooper Flagg — who turned 19 this week — is set to make his Christmas debut.
If Flagg plays, he’ll be the fourth-youngest player to appear in a Christmas game. Kobe Bryant, Bill Willoughby and James were all 18 in their first Christmas contest.
KD’s Christmas travels
Durant is set to play on Christmas for a fifth different team (and a sixth different jersey), which makes his holiday paths one of the most traveled in league history.
Durant also has played on Christmas for Seattle and Oklahoma City, then Golden State, then Brooklyn, then Phoenix and on Thursday, the Rockets — the team he joined this past summer — get added to the list.
O’Neal (Orlando, Lakers, Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston) played on Christmas for six teams. Among those who have played on the holiday with five franchises: Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.
Lots of West
Of the 10 teams playing on the day this year, eight come from the Western Conference.
That’s the most from one conference on Christmas since 1978, when the Eastern Conference saw eight of its then-11 teams picked to play on the holiday.
The last time the East had more teams playing than the West was 2004. Since then, including this year, the holiday schedule has seen an even East-West split 10 times and the West has seen more teams picked for the holiday slate on 11 occasions.
