NBA Christmas Day ratings are up as LeBron James says the NBA’s holiday tradition is “our day.”

Maybe it’s a sign of the times. Amid a fascinating NBA season filled with great storylines — the return of Ja Morant, the growth of Victor Wembanyama, the emergence of the Cavaliers and Rockets, big stars like Nikola Jokic playing at historic levels — much of the discussion has centered around that Play the volume of the 3-pointers and the ratings.

That’s why Christmas Day felt like a victory for the NBA.

“I love the NFL, I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day.” That’s how LeBron James summed it up.

There were five fascinating games on Christmas Day, decided by a total of 25 points, and the game’s big stars lived up to their billing. Wembanyama started the day with 42 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks in a Spurs loss to the Knicks. Kyrie Irving scored 39 points (also a loss). Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points with 12 assists to lead the 76ers past Jayson Tatum (32 points) and the Celtics. LeBron James (31 points), Stephen Curry (38) and Kevin Durant (27) all defied the clock.

TV ratings rose on Christmas Day to their highest level in five years – despite a head-to-head matchup with two NFL games and a Beyoncé halftime show. The Lakers’ win over the Warriors – featuring LeBron and Curry – led the way with an average of 7.76 million viewers and peaked at 8.32 million viewers. It was the most-watched NBA Christmas game in five years, recording a 499% increase over last year’s comparable window (when the game was pitted against a better NFL matchup that wasn’t broadcast on a streaming service).

All of the NBA television ratings discussion has largely taken place outside league circles and is typically more clickbait than an honest assessment. The discussion often begins with a flawed premise, namely talking about traditional television ratings – based on people sitting in front of a screen watching a game – and assuming that it is an accurate measure of a sport’s health or an accurate one The measure of their popularity is impact. Watching games this way is not the way most of the NBA’s core population younger than football (or baseball or hockey) consumes media. Most people who rely on old-fashioned ratings compare the NBA to the NFL and come into the discussion with an agenda (often political or cultural) that has little or nothing to do with sports.

The fact is that the NBA is winning in the only objective metric that matters: it signed a new 11-year, $76 billion television deal that takes the league into the future while making more money for owners and players (it should be noted that NBC does this). part of this new deal). The companies involved are not charities, but rather giant media conglomerates that recognize the value and popularity of the NBA product. Additionally, NBA Christmas Day viewership was only down about 4% by league metrics. Add to that the fact that the NBA is setting internal records for social media engagement and League Pass viewership (as well as other metrics), and you get the impression that the league isn’t doing as bad as some would have you believe.

That’s not to say all is rosy with the NBA or its ratings – they’re down, and the aesthetics of a game with an average of 70+ 3-pointers per night is a valid discussion. However, things are not as bad as some people looking for an engagement would like them to be.

Christmas Day showed that why it was a win for the NBA.