MANILA, Philippines — Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards will play Christmas Day games for the first time on Wednesday as the NBA delivers its 77th year of contests on the holiday.
French center Wembanyama, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, will lead the San Antonio Spurs into New York to face the Knicks, who have the league’s longest holiday history.
The Knicks have played the most Christmas games of any NBA club at 56 entering this year, the first coming in 1947, the year the first NBA Christmas game was played.
Wembanyama, a 20-year-old who stands 7-foot-3 (2.21m), averages 24.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 4.0 blocked shots a game for the Spurs, who return to the Christmas lineup for the first time in eight years.
“Very excited just about spending Christmas in New York,” Wembanyama said. “Going to be like the movies I hope, maybe get a little snow.
“I’ll approach it just like any other game. We’ve got to learn about their team, scout them and apply it for sure. I’m sure it’s going to be special. I’m sure the league is going to make it something special that we’re going to be able to feel.”
Edwards, a two-time NBA All-Star guard who helped the United States capture gold at the Paris Olympics, will try to spark the Minnesota Timberwolves on a holiday road trip to Dallas in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.
“Ant-Man” leads the T-Wolves with 25.3 points a game and also has 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals a contest this season.
The league’s past three champions will also take the court on Wednesday with the defending champion Boston Celtics playing host to Philadelphia, the 2022 trophy-lifting Golden State Warriors playing host to the Los Angeles Lakers and the 2023 winner Denver Nuggets on the road at Phoenix.
Lakers star LeBron James, who turns 40 next Monday, is the NBA career leader in points on Christmas with 476 in a record 18 games on Dec.25.