The NBA’s Christmas matchups were just announced by Shams Charania of ESPN, and sadly the Detroit Pistons did not make the cut.
Many fans were hoping for a rematch of last year’s first round series with a Knicks-Pistons matchup to start the day, but the NBA higher-ups didn’t see the value in that. Instead, they opted for Cavaliers-Knicks as the only game with any Eastern Conference teams.
It seems like the NBA missed an opportunity to market a rivalry and up and coming star.
The NBA missed a big chance by not featuring Detroit and New York
Obviously, we might be biased towards the Pistons here but it’s pretty much an objective fact that the Pistons and Knicks were one of the most entertaining matchups of the first round last year. The physicality that both teams brought to the series was reminiscent of an era long gone, and a cool throwback to the heydays of both franchises - the Bad Boy Pistons/2004 championship team and hard-nosed Knicks teams of the 70s and 90s.
It would have also been a great opportunity for the NBA to market a rapidly ascending young star in Cade Cunningham who has not gotten the spotlight he deserves thus far in his early career, largely due to a lack of team success. Now that the Pistons reached some level of team success last season and look poised to take another leap, Cade and the Pistons would be eager to display that on the NBA’s grandest regular-season stage.
Instead, the NBA opted to skew heavily towards the Western Conference. It’s hard to argue against most of the teams on the slate, but the Pistons have a valid case over the Mavericks. The Mavs will be without Kyrie Irving for the majority of the season, if not the entirety, and reliant on an aging, injury-prone star in Anthony Davis otherwise. Of course, there is the appeal of #1 overall pick Cooper Flagg but his sole influence shouldn’t necessarily trump an entire young team.
The NBA has repeatedly favored older teams and players in their marketing in recent years than young players, which has partially led to decreased ratings. Christmas Day, especially the noon Knicks game, has still been a great coming-out party for a lot of young players so it would have been ideal for the Pistons. Oh well, it’s still DETROIT VS EVERYBODY.