NEED TO KNOW
- Charles Barkley has an issue with NFL video games being televised on Christmas Day
- The Contained in the NBA analyst referred to as the league “grasping” for scheduling three video games on Thursday
- The NBA traditionally airs marquee video games on the date; this 12 months, 5 video games are scheduled
Charles Barkley is talking out about an unwelcome visitor on the Christmas desk.
On Thursday, Dec. 25, the Contained in the NBA analyst railed towards the follow in the previous couple of years of NFL video games sharing the day with professional basketball.
“The NFL acquired grasping and began including Christmas video games,” Barkley, 62, mentioned earlier than the day’s slate of video games on NBA Tipoff on ESPN. “We used to have today to ourself, however [NFL commissioner] Roger Goodell and them pigs on the NFL at all times wish to hog day by day of the week now.”
On Thursday, the NBA scheduled 5 marquee video games on ABC. The New York Knicks performed the Cleveland Cavaliers within the first matchup, adopted by the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
Different video games included the Dallas Mavericks going through off towards the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers taking up the Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets enjoying the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the meantime, the NFL scheduled three video games, all streamed on Netflix. The Dallas Cowboys performed the Washington Commanders, the Detroit Lions performed the Minnesota Vikings and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are set for a night matchup towards the Denver Broncos.
This 12 months is the fifth consecutive season that the NFL has scheduled multiple recreation on Christmas Day.
In 2022 and 2023, the NFL additionally performed three video games on the vacation.
Accidents to beginning quarterbacks, a theme of the 2025 season, contributed to this 12 months’s comparatively weak lineup of NFL video games.
Commanders quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and backup Marcus Mariota have been each out, which meant emergency signal-caller Josh Johnson was inserted as a starter. In the meantime, Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes are additionally out.
For Barkley, basketball must be the one professional sport served up on the vacation.
“Christmas is an NBA day,” he mentioned.
