OKC Thunder miss out on Christmas day game, what it means for the franchise

The OKC Thunder used to be a staple of the NBA’s Christmas Day slate. Routinely being pegged for the event year in and year out, helping the franchise become a global brand.

Since the Thunder move to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008, the team has played nine times in the NBA’s marquee event. The team will head into their third straight season without a Christmas Day game, what does that mean for the OKC Thunder?

The OKC Thunder miss out on a 2021 Christmas Day game

The NBA announced its opening week slate and Christmas Day matchups on Tuesday afternoon. The entire schedule, including every national TV date, will be released on Friday, August 20th.

The NBA nearly hit a home run on their Christmas Day’s tilts. This is the league’s biggest regular-season day. For some fans, it acts as the marker for when to begin paying attention to the league, for other fans it might be the only time they watch the NBA until the postseason.

The day starts with an intense playoff series rematch as the Hawks travel to MSG to take on the Knicks. The Trae Young vs Knick fan storylines write themselves and can jumpstart a new age rivalry.

The Celtics travel to take on the defending champion Buck, the Warriors travel to take on the defending Western Conference champion Suns, setting the stage for a great nightcap.

At 7 p.m. central time, the Kevin Durant and James Harden-led Nets will take on Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers. This tilt will mark the first time the former Oklahoma City trio (Harden, Durant, Westbrook) will share the floor in the same regular-season game since 2016, barring injuries.

After the Nets and Lakers face off in what will be one of the most-watched regular-season games of all time, the NBA wrapped up Christmas with Luka Doncic and the Mavs on display against a good regular season team in the Utah Jazz.

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It is hard to argue that the NBA got this schedule wrong, there are not many gripes to have. Sure, maybe Nikola Jokic deserved the December 25th showcase after winning MVP this past season, but ultimately I think the league got this schedule right.

The OKC Thunder have not played on Christmas since 2018 against the Houston Rockets, a game they lost 113-109. The year prior, in the same matchup, the Thunder topped the Rockets with Carmelo Anthony, Westbrook, and Steven Adams leading the way.

This three-year break is the team’s longest Christmas Day drought, the team played on December 25th from Christmas 2010-2018.

What does this mean for the organization? Playing on this National Holiday, as the NBA world gathers around the television screen, is a big part of how the OKC Thunder became a global brand. It put the city of Oklahoma City on the map and created lifelong Thunder fans.

Taking away this grand stage could lead to those national fans falling off the OKC bandwagon, and picking a new team to rally around.

While the boys in blue, despite Aleksej Pokusevski’s novelty and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s All-Star campaign, did not have a case to play on the big stage this year, it is added motivation to get back to the point of national relevance.

In the meantime, enjoy your Christmas Holiday without the added stress of watching Thunder basketball. Kick back, relax, open presents, drink hot chocolate, eat turkey and ham, and watch some awesome basketball.

The Thunder will be back on the grand stage…eventually.