Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
NBA Snubs Atlanta Hawks on Christmas Day
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The Atlanta Hawks preseason and regular season schedules are expected to drop this week. Yesterday afternoon we published five potential Christmas Day matchups for the Hawks. Naturally, the NBA released its Christmas Day slate of games a few hours later.
Much to our dismay, the Hawks will not be one of the ten teams playing on the big holiday. Check out the five matchups below, as well as Trae Young's tweet that came ten minutes after the games were announced.
- Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics
- Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks
- Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets
- Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks
- Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors
Last year was the first time the Hawks played on Christmas since 1989. Sadly, All-Star point guard Trae Young was not able to make his heralded return to Madison Square Garden because he and multiple teammates were out in the NBA Health & Safety Protocols.
Hawks players and their fans deserve to be upset. When Covid swept through the league last year, the NBA never postponed a game for the Hawks. Atlanta's front office kept signing free agents on 10-day contracts to keep the league afloat. No team ever had a roster as big as the Hawks last season.
As we mentioned earlier, they played a skeleton crew (including sick players) on Christmas to help the league avoid losing its nationally-televised noon timeslot.
Bogdan Bogdanovic debuted the Adidas Trae Young 1 'Christmas' shoes on December 25, 2021.
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Plus, the team agreed to two preseason games in Abu Dhabi to start the 2022-23 campaign. It is nothing against the beautiful city of Abu Dhabi, but the team will be jetlagged to start the season, which is a disadvantage.
The Hawks should not only be playing on Christmas Day this year, but Atlanta should be hosting a game.
Both the city and the organization are used to getting slighted. Luckily, they have a rejuvenated roster that will force its way into the national spotlight next season. Stay locked into AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.
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