As a commercial league, only NBA teams with relatively high traffic can be scheduled to play on Christmas Eve, and the Lakers vs. Warriors game is undoubtedly one of the most watched matchups in recent years.
Historically, the team that has participated in the most Christmas games is the Knicks, with 56 appearances. New York is considered the most prosperous city in the United States, and even the Lakers have participated in fewer Christmas games than the Knicks, with 50 appearances. The Warriors have played 33 times, and it's worth noting that the Warriors were the inaugural champions of the NBA. Their team has always had a rich history and never lacked star players, such as Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Paul Arizin, Nate Thurmond, and Stephen Curry, all of whom are well-known figures.
Being scheduled to play on Christmas Eve is enough to demonstrate that the league also places great importance on the influence of the Nuggets. Historically, the Nuggets have participated in the Christmas games 9 times, and both Carmelo Anthony (Sweet Melo) and the current Nikola Jokic have been periods of focus for the league.
Some fans believe that Westbrook's ability to surpass Harden and Shaquille O'Neal in scoring during the Christmas games is entirely due to the influence of Jokic on the Nuggets, and that Westbrook is simply reaping the benefits. However, in fact, Westbrook's number of fans across the United States ranks just behind James, Durant, and Curry.
It is well known that LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Kyrie Irving are the five NBA players with the highest traffic at present. Among them, James tops the list with 213 million followers, followed by Curry with 75.6 million followers, and Durant ranks third with 34.7 million followers. Westbrook has 29.6 million followers, while Irving has slightly fewer followers at 24.8 million.
After the news of Westbrook being traded by the Clippers during the offseason broke, there was an uproar among fans and online, resulting in the Clippers losing 1.4 million followers on Instagram quickly.
The latest top ten list of total points scored in Christmas games is led by James with a total of 476 points, averaging 26.4 points per game with a shooting percentage of 48.9%. The following rankings include Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson (Big O, retired), Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook, Shaquille O'Neal, James Harden, Dolph Schayes (deceased), and Walter Bellamy (nickname Bele, deceased).