The first NBA game played on December 25 Arrived in 1947, a year after the NBA’s inception, when the New York Knicks beat the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden 89–75.

Ever since that time, the NBA has played games each year on Christmas Day except in 1998 (when a lockout canceled half of the 1998–99 season). In contrast, Major League Baseball is at its own off-season during Christmas, the National Football League only schedules Christmas games when Christmas falls on the weekend (and even then just schedules games on Christmas sometimes ) and the National Hockey League’s collective bargaining agreement forbids playing games on Christmas Day (and, except when it falls on a Saturday, Christmas Eve as well). In college football, the only bowl game traditionally scheduled for Christmas has been the defunct Aloha Bowl (and for one year, its replacement, the Hawaii Bowl). Thus, the NBA is the only league to schedule games on December 25.
From the first days, regional closeness dictated the majority of the matchups. Teams would play with with their geographical rivals also to allow them to have more time with their families and to decrease holiday travel. According to Dr. Jack Ramsay, who coached the Portland Trail Blazers from 1976–77 (their only championship season) into 1986,”Christmas meant being at home with all the family and having a game we won. That was a great Christmas to me.” He also set the record for most coaching victories on Christmas Day with 11, an accomplishment that Phil Jackson afterwards matched in 2008.
In the early 1980s, the New York Knicks put three years in a row. In 1 game (1984), hall-of-fame forward Bernard King scoring 60 points–the most ever scored by a participant on Christmas Day, Together with the advent of television and the excitement caused by these games, the NBA decided to scheduled matches over the vacation which showcased the best players and teams.

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