NBA sets Christmas Day slate but all eyes will be on Chiefs’ holiday game

The Kansas City Chiefs aren't going to get Christmas Day all to themselves. Neither is the NFL.

The National Basketball Association will also broadcast games on Christmas Day on Friday with sources leaking the rumored slate of five full games running throughout the day in the hopes of luring eyeballs to screens of some type while also celebrating the holiday with family and friends.

The NBA is doing its best to keep viewers from going all-in on the NFL on December 25.

Per The Athletic's Joe Vardon and Mike Vorkunov, the NBA's Christmas Day schedule of games will include the following matchups:

• Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks
• San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder
• Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers
• Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors
• Minnesota Timberwolves @ Denver Nuggets

Sports fans know, of course, that the NBA was here first when it comes to scheduling yuletide festivities. The NFL moved in last season with two games, including a game featuring the Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they'll enhance that slate with a third game in 2025.

Somehow the competition for sports fans proved good for both leagues involved. The NBA was pleased with solid ratings-—their highest in a half decade for the day—while the NFL cleaned up considerably. The Chiefs-Steelers matchup drew 30 AMA (average minute audience) while the Baltimore Ravens v. Houston Texans drew even more viewers.

This year, a late-year rivalry game between the Denver Broncos and Chiefs should make for a red-hot matchup in Week 17. Given how strong Denver's defense is looking coming into the season, and the maturation of Bo Nix in his second season, the Broncos might be the strongest test to the Chiefs' AFC West supremacy in several years.

However, Kansas City has good reason to believe they're even better than they were when they won the conference last year in a bid for a historic threepeat. Josh Simmons might be a real solution at left tackle, Rashee Rice will be done with a suspension by then, and a roster that's deep at every position should look ready for the postseason.

While the NBA is likely to fare well on Christmas Day, the NFL will undoubtedly rule the airwaves (dated reference) once again. The Chiefs are a big part of it, and they might end up being the holiday staple they wanted to be all along.