Several NBA superstars and top teams will showcase their skills on national television for Christmas Day games.
The Miami Heat won’t.
Although they reached the conference finals last year, they won’t make the roster. The Heat are the only home semifinalist for the holidays.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler viewed the schedule as a form of disrespect.
“I don’t really feel like the NBA is rocking with the Miami Heat,” Butler said last week. “At least we can play somewhere. We don’t have game shows or anything.”
Butler was referring to the Heat’s game in Mexico City last week against the San Antonio Spurs. The game is one of only 22 nationally televised for the Heat. Eleven of them are on NBATV, including Saturday, but aren’t as well-known as ABC, TNT, or ESPN.
Today’s game will feature LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid and many more All-Stars.
Here is the full Christmas program:
Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks, noon
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks, 2:30 p.m.
Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 5 p.m.
Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m.
Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns, 10:30 p.m.
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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.
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