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The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo will not be featured in this year's Christmas Day games in the NBA, and the superstar player does not like that fact, but he believes that the NBA has some kind of algorithm to determine the matchups and maximize viewership.
“I'm a little bit upset or kind of questioning it,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “But I really believe there's probably an algorithm that takes place within the NBA that shows who is the most attractive team or which team gets the most attention for them to be able to play in the Christmas game.”
Antetokounmpo went on to say that the Bucks' star power with him and Damian Lillard should be enough to get them a matchup on Christmas Day. Last year the Bucks visited the New York Knicks.
“There's gotta be an algorithm because if it's — how can I say — like a popularity contest, I can give you facts,” Antetokounmpo said. “You want me to? Two of the NBA All-Star starters, Dame (Lillard) and Giannis, and the All-Star MVP, right? And the No. 1 vote-getter — not in the East, in the whole NBA — is not in the Christmas game? What? No, it's a fact. … The votes came out last year. I was the No. 1 Dame was a starter. I was a starter. Dame won the MVP. Dame won the three-point contest. Maybe that has nothing to do with it. I believe we were one of the best teams in the East last year. Maybe not this year, OK? We don't get a Christmas game. Why? Because we got a small market? Maybe that's the case. Or I want to believe that I tell you, I think there's an algorithm within the NBA that they choose which team will get the most attention, the most viewership that day.”
Should the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo be featured on Christmas Day?
The NBA's Christmas Day matchups feature the San Antonio Spurs visiting the Knicks, the Minnesota Timberwolves playing the Dallas Mavericks, the Philadelphia 76ers playing the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers playing the Golden State Warriors, and the Denver Nuggets playing the Phoenix Suns.
It is hard to argue many of these matchups. The Bucks playing the Knicks again would have been interesting, but it makes sense to see Victor Wembanyama on Christmas Day. Maybe the Bucks could have taken the Timberwolves or Mavericks' spot. The 76ers and Celtics is a great rivalry matchup, while the Lakers and LeBron James against the Warriors and Stephen Curry always is a great game, and the Nuggets and Suns is a good Western Conference matchup.
Regardless, the Bucks can turn this into a reason to have a chip on their shoulder this season. They have already proven their worth as the Bucks won NBA Cup.
