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Charles Barkley Rips Roger Goodell, NFL ‘Pigs’ Over Christmas Day Games
Christmas Day had traditionally been a huge day for the NBA, with the league showcasing its best players and teams in nationally televised games while most of the other major sports leagues took the day off.
Times have changed, however, as the NFL has been having more and more games played on the holiday. That continues Thursday with three games—Cowboys vs. Commanders, Lions vs. Vikings, Broncos vs. Chiefs—being played.
Former NBA great Charles Barkley is not a fan of this move by the NFL and he made that clear during ESPN's NBA pregame show on Thursday.
“The NFL got greedy and started adding Christmas games. We used to have this day to ourself, but Roger Goodell and them pigs at the NFL always want to hog every day of the week now,” Barkley said. “Christmas is an NBA day.”
The NBA has five games today, starting off with the Cavs battling the Knicks at Madison Square Garden at noon ET and ending with the Timberwolves facing the Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. ET. LeBron James and the Lakers will also be in action as they will host Kevin Durant and the Rockets at 8 p.m. ET.
The NFL has had at least one game on Christmas since 2020. Last year they had three games, even though the holiday fell on a Wednesday.
Today's NFL slate looked a lot better back when the schedule came out but now features a bunch of teams, including the Chiefs, who will not be playing in the postseason.
It will be interesting to see how things play out when the ratings are released.
NFL Christmas Day schedule
Away Team | Home Team | Time, TV Info |
|---|---|---|
Cowboys | Commanders | 1 p.m. ET, Netflix |
Lions | Vikings | 4:30 p.m. ET, Netflix |
Broncos | Chiefs | 8:15 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime |
NBA Christmas Day schedule
Away Team | Home Team | Time, TV Info |
|---|---|---|
Cavaliers | Knicks | Noon, ET, ABC/ESPN |
Spurs | Thunder | 2:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN |
Mavericks | Warriors | 5 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN |
Rockets | Lakers | 8 p.m. ET ABC/ESPN |
Timberwolves | Nuggets | 10:30 p.m. ET ABC/ESPN |
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
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Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.