The NBA has long used its opening night and Christmas day games to showcase the marquee teams of the league, and according to recent schedule leaks, they don’t consider the Detroit Pistons one of them.
Shams Charania leaked the projected opening night and Christmas day games for next season, and predictably, the Pistons were not included:
🚨🎄 NBA Christmas Day 2025 on ABC and ESPN, per sources:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 8, 2025
- Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks
- San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets at LA Lakers
- Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors
- Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
There were many who thought the Pistons and Knicks might get a chance to run back their playoff rivalry after treating fans to one of the best series of the playoffs last season, but instead, the Knicks will play the Cavaliers.
It’s a telling omission from the league, which is still treating the Detroit Pistons like a second-tier team, something that won’t change until they make a deep run into the playoffs.
NBA pumps the brakes on the acceleration of the Detroit Pistons
The Pistons are a young and exciting team led by a player in Cade Cunningham who finished 7th in the MVP voting and is finally starting to get some national recognition.
They play an entertaining style of basketball that relies heavily on fast break points and dunks, which should make them fairly easy for the league to market, especially considering the Pistons were long one of the marquee teams of the league and have a strong fanbase.
But the Pistons are also coming off a long stretch of being one of the worst teams in the league, and apparently the league will need to see more than one successful season before they start putting Detroit back in the premier slots.
It’s fair to Cleveland, who has been good longer than the Pistons, and Detroit will have to knock one of these Eastern Conference teams out of the playoffs before they get a shot at the big nationally televised games, which is understandable.
You could make the same argument against the San Antonio Spurs, who haven’t won anything lately or even made the playoffs, but have the darling of the league in Victor Wembanyama, who they are desperate to promote.
There was only one Eastern Conference game featured in this first batch of leaks, so it’s not just the Pistons who need to prove they are a team that deserves a look for a Christmas Day or opening night game.
The Pistons may feel they were snubbed, but there are limited spots and the NBA is going to continue to milk the LeBron/Curry cash cows as long as they can. Detroit should be in the next wave of teams that get a look, but they will have to earn it with wins in the playoffs next season.