A stocking full of holiday stories on Detroit Pistons

The NBA’s annual lump of coal to Detroit Pistons fans

When the NBA realized that playing on Christmas could be a good marketing ploy, suddenly the Pistons stopped being on the December 25 schedule too much. Unfortunately, this article I wrote needs no updating:

"The NBA’s preliminary schedule for its slate of Christmas Day games was leaked, and the Detroit Pistons are, once again, not listed. It is the 17th straight year the Pistons will not play on December 25. This is a story we seem to write every year, and would really rather not. What popped up recently was its schedule for Christmas Day, the day the NBA tries to showcase its best, or most popular, teams. Everyone is off work and have time to check out what the NBA is about. For the 17th year in a row, the Pistons will not be playing on Christmas. So you can go make any plans you want for Christmas, and not worry about missing a Pistons game. While the Pistons generated a lot of buzz this summer, with Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren joining a promising young core, it was not enough to crack the prestigious Christmas Day lineup. The league office has never been a big fan of putting the Pistons on national TV. The last time they played on December 25, was 2005, when they were the defending champions, and beat the San Antonio Spurs at The Palace of Auburn Hills. How long ago was that? Joey Harrington was the starting quarterback of the Detroit Lions. Even though Detroit was in the Eastern Conference finals the following three seasons, they have not been put on the Christmas Day docket again."

There was a time when a family could go watch the Lions on Thanksgiving and then the Pistons on Christmas. Maybe, some year, that can be true again.

Happy holidays everyone!