What the Orlando Magic need to get a Christmas Day game in 2025

Christmas was a banner day for the NBA with four highly competitive games filling the sports calendar and one bold proclamation against a Christmas Day interloper. Orlando Magic fans want to know: When will the Magic get back in on the fun?

The Orlando Magic did not have a Christmas Day game yet again. But their time in the spotlight on the NBA's premiere regular season day is coming sooner than later.
The Orlando Magic did not have a Christmas Day game yet again. But their time in the spotlight on the NBA's premiere regular season day is coming sooner than later. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

For the NBA, Christmas Day could not have gone better.

Their 13-hour, five-game extravaganza featured four games that went down to the wire, highlighted by Stephen Curry leading the Golden State Warriors on a wild comeback in the fourth quarter but topped by Austin Reaves' winning layup for the Los Angeles Lakers.

All five games were not too shabby and the people seemed to agree. The NBA reported the most-watched Christmas Day slate in five years and viewership up 84 percent from last year. And this was even with the NFL providing some competition on Netflix in the early window.

For all the hand-wringing that has gone on in the national media lately about league ratings, it turns out all the league needed were quality games with the league's most established stars to win the night and change the narrative.

As LeBron James proclaimed after the Lakers' last-second win, Christmas Day belongs to the NBA. There may still be some arguments about that, but stories about the NBA's demise were greatly exaggerated.

The strong day of games had many Orlando Magic fans wondering: When will the Magic get the chance to play on Christmas?

Orlando has not been on the marquee regular season day since Dwight Howard's final year on Christmas Day 2011, the opening of the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.

No one would argue the Magic earned a Christmas game in the interim. The team has just three playoff appearances since then.

But with a budding and likely perennial All-Star in Paolo Banchero and a young team that seems close to contending regularly for a top spot in the Eastern Conference, the Magic should be in the running to be on Christmas pretty soon, right? Right?!

Clearly, there is no set formula for getting on Christmas. While it is a showcase day for the NBA, it is not simply the best teams in the league at that moment. The NBA leans on the players and teams they can market—thus you will always see LeBron James, Stephen Curry, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the New York Knicks on Christmas Day.

The Magic still have work to do to get that kind of a spotlight. Multiple playoff appearances, more All-Star appearances, and more playoff wins will go a long way to put them on that stage—international stardom with Franz Wagner does not hurt either.

While there is no exact science to get on Christmas, what do the Magic need to get on the Christmas slate? Here is where to start:

5. Win games

The Christmas Day slate is not about how many games you win. For the 2025 standings, only four of the top 10 teams by wins played on Christmas. And only six of the top 10 teams from the 2024 standings appeared on Christmas.

That included leaving out last year's and this year's top team in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The marquee game of the day was the 8 p.m. tip-off between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams are hovering above .500 at this point.

It is clear star power matters. And for the Orlando Magic, star power only comes from winning.

Paolo Banchero was the top overall pick two years ago and has played in only one nationally televised regular season game. Orlando making the playoffs as the 5-seed earned them just five national television games.

The Magic are still building their national profile. And Orlando has not won a nationally televised regular season game (non-NBATV, which we all know does not count) since the last game of the 2019 season. Orlando still has two left this season and the potential to add more as the team gets healthier.

But the truth is the Magic have only appeared on Christmas when they had nationally relevant players and with their best teams.

The 1996 Orlando Magic got the marquee spot on the calendar in a Finals rematch with the Houston Rockets. Tracy McGrady had a regular string of games on national TV. And the Dwight Howard Magic were also regulars on this marquee day.

If Orlando becomes title contenders the team should be back in the spotlight enough for consideration.

4. All-Star recognition

But it is clearly not just about wins. Wins get you some attention. But that is not what Christmas Day is about. It is about the stars the league wants to market.

The reason Christmas Day is a big day on the NBA calendar is that it is early enough in the season that the storylines for the season have not been firmly set but it is late enough in the season that the league has an idea of who is going to be in the playoffs and compete for the title.

Still, the league has to make the decision of who plays on Christmas before the season begins. They are betting on the players and All-Stars they want to feature. Christmas Day is not about the season ahead, it is about what the league feels is important.

That is why there is some concern about the league's Christmas Day schedule. The league leaned on traditional franchises and traditional stars. They started to feature Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards, both playing their first Christmas games. But Edwards had to reach the Western Conference Finals to get that attention. And somehow the league left out Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Much like the path to starting in the All-Star Game, the path to stardom is still a difficult one for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. They are not displacing Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel Embiid any time soon—that goes for All-Star voting.

But there is a window for them to sneak in.

The Philadelphia 76ers falling apart and Embiid's uncertain availability might open one of the Christmas Day slots. But the Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo should be an easy replacement.

The Magic's Christmas Day games have all come when they had All-NBA players. Shaquille O'Neal anchored the Magic's first run of Christmas Day games, even getting one in 1993 in just his second season. Tracy McGrady got a string of games because he was the best scorer in the league. And then Dwight Howard was the leading vote-getter for All-Star voting and part of a quality Magic team, making him a featured player.

Banchero and Wagner being injured likely means they have not had the time to build up their stardom. It is unlikely either will make the All-Star Game this year because of their injuries. That will make it tough for the Magic to earn a Christmas game, barring a stunning run to end the season and a strong playoff showing.

Orlando's future is based on the team's stars' development. Whether the Magic get a Christmas Day game depends on them continuing to grow.

3. NFL Competition

The NBA faced some alarms this year when the NFL decided to move in on a Wednesday and try to stake a claim to the NBA's traditional dominance on Christmas.

They scheduled games in the early window at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Netflix behind their paywall. It was an interesting experiment—and the NFL is touting big ratings, even though they are down from their previous special Christmas engagement.

The competition did not seem to detract much from the proceedings.

NBA PR reported the New York Knicks' noon opener against the San Antonio Spurs was the most-watched opening game in 13 years and nearly doubled its audience from last year's game. The second game featuring the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves and the third game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics were also modestly up while in direct competition with the NFL games.

The NBA will probably adjust their schedule next year if the NFL plans to play on Christmas again (it is a Thursday next year). The NFL may also plan a primetime game too. So the question will be how will the NBA combat?

The NBA will want their best game in a time when they can maximize viewership. And that is probably not going to be those early slots anymore.

That could be a chance for the NBA to highlight some newer teams or teams deserving of the spotlight but not the surefire tickets for the prime times the NBA is trying to get viewership.

Not to mention, the earlier times are good for international audiences. The Orlando Magic have gotten plenty of early tip-offs to try to get Franz and Moe Wagner on in primetime in Germany—Sunday's game against the Brooklyn Nets was scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for that purpose, it would appear.

The NBA should look to the competition from the NFL as an opportunity to showcase the league's future and tests which teams and players might be carrying the league in the future. They are not winning that ratings battle anyway.

2. Buildling Rivalries

Again, the NBA's Christmas Day slate is not about who are the best teams, it is all about the stories the league wants to tell. They tell the world the players and storylines that are most important to them or at least the ones they feel comfortable banking on to guarantee viewership.

Ultimately Christmas Day is revealing the story the league wants to tell about itself.

While there are plenty of analysts lamenting the lack of established rivalries—Milwaukee Bucks-Indiana Pacers and even Boston Celtics-Indiana Pacers were sitting there after contentious games last year with an up-and-coming team in high-stakes games—there is something to that. The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers made sense not only for the brand names involved but also because LeBron James and Stephen Curry had such a long-standing rivalry.

The league indeed needs to find a way to create rivalries. Those only come from the playoffs and multiple playoff battles. That is likely why a Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers matchup made sense beyond the power of those franchises and Joel Embiid being a former MVP.

The league has to find new rivalries to promote and matchups to feature. And that just has not happened.

It may be one of the downsides of this age of parity.

The Orlando Magic have yet to establish any true rivalries. And that is one of the things working against them. The Magic and Pacers, for instance, might be a good rivalry of up-and-coming teams, but they have not had a national stage to get viewers invested.

The league saw something in the Orlando Magic's playoff rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Two of the Magic's games against the Cavs—the loss on Dec. 1 in Cleveland and the upcoming Feb. 25 game in Orlando—were placed on national TV. Going to seven games certainly helped create some attraction between those two teams—and Game 7 performed well on TV.

But the Magic do not have a peer they are directly competing against.

The league has tried to push the Orlando Magic's matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, scheduling one of their two matchups for national TV in each of the last three seasons (the 2022-23 version was taken off after Chet Holmgren broke his foot). But the Thunder are title contenders and the Magic are still gaining their playoff scars.

Orlando is still seeking a rival that can draw national attention to put them on Christmas.

1. Better Marketing for Young Stars

Perhaps the biggest frustration for Orlando Magic fans is the lack of marketing and attention given to their young star in Paolo Banchero. He put up historic numbers in his rookie year and continued to grow in his sophomore year. He earned an All-Star berth and got his team to the playoffs in his second year.

Yet, there was a general discourse surrounding Banchero that he was all stats and no real impat on winning. He was not featured on national TV as one of the best young stars in the league.

The NBA was doing a poor job promoting up-and-coming stars and previewing who the next generation in the league will be.

Christmas Day may not be the best day to promote those future stars. It is more about the here and now and who the league wants to market and feature in the present.

Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic may not quite be in that category. Still, it felt like the NBA left a lot of teams that are part of the present off the list for Christmas Day.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were known commodities after earning the top seed last year and they sat out on Christmas. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks also to Christmas Day off.

The league is leaning on established stars well past their prime. And it is clear it is time to introduce some new blood to the mix.

The Magic may not yet be part of that. But their time is clearly coming soon. And a Christmas Day game is not too far off in the Magic's future.

Schedule