NBA tries to make up for Christmas Day failure with a big boost for the Thunder

Although the OKC Thunder finished last season as the top seed in the Western Conference standings and with the second-best record in the entire league, the NBA felt they were not worthy of participating in this year's Christmas show.

Over the years, December 25th has become the most important date in the regular season, as it is usually the day when the association's top franchises compete against each other.

Although Oklahoma City was one of the last eight teams remaining in the 2023/24 season and entered the new season with the second-best chances of winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the league ultimately decided not to have Oklahoma City participate in the illustrious Christmas games.

For many, this is nothing less than an outrageous insult.

Yet despite their absence from the holiday festivities, after the official release of all 30 teams' 2024-25 regular season schedule, it's pretty obvious that Adam Silver and Co. still view the Thunder as one of the league's top teams and will give fans plenty of opportunities to see them play on a national stage throughout the season.

Entering the new season, the Thunder are expected to have 25 nationally televised games (i.e., on ESPN, ABC, TNT or NBA TV), making them the 10th best in the entire league.

This is nearly double the amount the franchise was allocated last year. Their 12-game increase puts them behind only the Minnesota Timberwolves and just ahead of the incredibly popular New York Knicks for the largest increase in nationally televised games.

In their 13 nationally broadcast games during the 2023-24 season, the Thunder finished with a rather mediocre record of 7-6, but still managed to finish with a total score of +18 over their opponents.

Oklahoma City wants to take the next step on the road to the title and is well positioned to do so, having signed top-class players in the offseason, such as Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso, to iron out old weaknesses in the rotation.

With the first of their 25 nationally televised games taking place on opening night (October 24), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. will have the opportunity to showcase their improved game to a wide audience early and often this year.

While this may not be as exciting as adding the team to the Christmas Day schedule, it appears to be one way the NBA is trying to make up for the franchise's exclusion.