Return to Christmas Day Slate A Special Sight For OKC Thunder

Christmas Day is a tent pole day on the NBA calendar. Come diehards come casuals it is a main event during the Holiday season and the most viewed date in the regular season. The Oklahoma City Thunder, in the third smallest market in the NBA, was a staple of the festivities from 2010-18. In that span, they put up some legendary performances to make lasting memories in Bricktown.

Now, they return to the Christmas Day slate for the first time since 2018, with a team that looks poised to go on a decade long streak of contention to be worthy of building the league's Holiday Hoop schedule around.

On Thursday, the Thunder returned to the Christmas Day slate while playing host to the San Antonio Spurs in the mid-day stand alone contest. The Paycom Center starting filling up an hour before tip-off, packed with energy and excitement.

“It’s a big day in the NBA. The guys are excited to play on that slate of games. It's one of 82 at the end of the day. It is an elevated circumstance because of the attention on the game and the noise around it. Those are good experiences for anything and certainly for us. That's the kind of noise you have to cut through in the playoffs if you're fortunate enough to get there. We learned that over the last couple of years as we've gotten there. The more you can condition yourself for the circumstances, the better you can handle them," Head coach Mark Daigneault said of playing on Christmas Day.

While some games can get lost in the midst of an 82 game marathon, every NBA fan has a vivid memory of a standout performance on Christmas Day.

"It'll be fun. Playing on Christmas Day in itself is a dream come true. I watched the NBA games growing up every single Christmas, so that'll be super fun. I can't wait to experience. And against a really good basketball team. It'll be a lot of fun," Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of playing on the Holiday.

The right to play on such a massive NBA date is not promised to a market the size of Oklahoma City. Some franchises who have been around much longer than the Bricktown Ballers are still awaiting their Christmas Day debut.

"It’s dope. If you’re a sports fan, you grew up watching sports on Christmas. We’re the cool game. 1:30, presents are already opened. Everybody is watching the games now. I’m really looking forward to that. My family will be out here. That's a really cool moment for me. I have a lot of memories of different rivals playing on Christmas and just trying to hurry up to open the gifts to watch the games," All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams detailed when asked about playing on Christmas.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are aiming to make this an annual tradition for the next generation of Thunder fans. They have put themselves in a great position to do so. It starts this afternoon in the Paycom Center. A return that wasn't promised but was delivered.