The NBA's highly anticipated Christmas Day schedule has finally been made public. Unfortunately, the LA Clippers were not selected to play on the NBA's marquee day. The league opted to go with a few new teams highlighted by exciting young talent.
Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs will be heading to New York to take on the Knicks at the annual Madison Square Garden game that opens up the Christmas slate. After that, Anthony Edwards and the Western Conference runner-up Minnesota Timberwolves will travel to Dallas for a matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.
The rest of the day is rounded out by 76ers at Celtics, Lakers at Warriors, and Nuggets at Suns. While there are still some interesting matchups here, it is clear that the league missed out on a pretty big opportunity when it comes to the Clippers.
The NBA missed an opportunity to put Clippers-76ers on Christmas
Paul George departing for Philadelphia (and considering all the various sound bites he has put out since then) makes the two Clippers-Sixers matchups next season must-see TV. Philadelphia is set up to be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference, and the Clippers will have some extra motivation to take down George's new team.
Picture PG walking out of the tunnel making his first appearance at Intuit Dome as a visitor, with what will likely be a mixed reaction from the Clippers crowd. It would have been a wild atmosphere, and one that proudly displayed the Clippers' fanbase and their new arena at their best.
We know that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver loves to make plays for ratings, and that is why he typically props up the Lakers for their brand value, even when the team itself is lackluster. But if you want to talk about ratings, a Clippers-Sixers matchup would have taken the cake.