Former NBA head coach Phil Jackson isn’t active on social media by any means, but he felt compelled to speak out on X on Sunday. In his first post in nearly a year, Jackson expressed his displeasure at the NBA scheduling multiple games on Christmas and Easter.
“Again the NBA tests faith by playing multiple games on Christmas and Easter…sacred days.”
It’s an odd decision on Jackson’s part to call out just the NBA here, as other leagues do this as well. The NFL, for one, has had multiple Christmas Day games in each of the last five years.
The MLB, meanwhile, played a full slate of games on this Easter Sunday, and the NHL held three playoff games too. A whole host of other major events were also held on Sunday, so it is a bit unfair to target just the NBA here.
Jackson isn’t the first to have a problem with a sports league scheduling games on sacred days like these, and he won’t be the last. The fact is, though, that games will continue to be played on these holidays as that’s when a league can draw huge audiences.
The NBA has held games on Christmas since 1947, and it’s a tradition at this point. If Jackson seriously wanted change, he should have been more vocal about having a problem with this during his playing and coaching career. He played in nine and coached 18 Christmas Day games during his time in the NBA.
Would Jackson’s speaking about this issue back then have changed anything? No, but that’s the case now, too.
This isn’t the first time that Jackson has expressed his displeasure with the NBA in recent years. Back in 2023, Jackson stated the league made a mistake with political slogans on courts in the Bubble in 2020. He wasn’t a fan of players wearing jerseys with words such as “justice” on the backs either.
Jackson wanted politics out of sports and also stated he stopped watching the NBA. The 79-year-old enjoyed tremendous success during his time in the league with two titles as a player and 11 as a coach, but can’t stand it now.
