Only three franchises have managed to survive the merciless passage of time since nba start walking with the acronym BAA in 1946: Warriors, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. Of these three, the latter was the one that best preserved the original spirit with which the league began in the mid-1940s, an organization located in an economic enclave, it is perceived to get more media attention and appeal to a larger amount of people regardless of how the team was athletic.
The foundations of the NBA are based on the association of owners of the main arenas of the professional hockey league with the goal of keeping these places active when there were no AHL games. With the passage of time and the establishment of the NBA itself nationally and internationally, this organization would far exceed the boundaries of its original mission, establishing itself as a world-renowned entity that has become a multi-million dollar enterprise that attracts fans from all over the world.
However, this was not always the case. The first years of the league’s existence were very difficult financially, because the costs were high relative to the benefits and public interest was very variable. Without television established as a mass media the only two ways to follow a team were the radio and going to the field on duty.
During the first phase of the championship NY done the de facto capital of the NBA capitalizing on the importance college basketball had in previous decades. The league has gone to great lengths to showcase its best players and teams in the setting most likely to allow more fans to experience the game in person. This meant performing what is known as bicepstwo consecutive meetings on the same night that they could features 4 teams from the NBA itself or an exhibition or amateur game before the main course.
In this way the third Madison Square Garden and the 69th Regiment Armory They became the focal points of the league in the United States, and it is common to see two teams outside of New York playing a regular season game. In those cases the promotion varied greatly, focusing on the best player, with the most obvious example being the arrival of the Minneapolis Lakers with the slogan of George Mikan vs. Knicks in 1949.
Therefore, in the second season of this competition’s existence (1947-1948) Eddie Gottliebtasked with making the league calendars for several decadesit was clear to him that the Knicks needed to take advantage of the size of their large market and the fact that during the Christmas season New York’s population increased dramatically in order to turn a profit, of any type. The recreational alternatives that existed at the time at the sporting level were not very extensive, so the BAA was clear and chose Madison as his testing ground.
That first duel dealt with it Knicks vs. Providence Steamrollers in a collision he took more than 15,000 people, a record for the season, and served as an excuse to always have an NBA game in New York on December 25th.
Meetings on this date became a non-negotiable for the league and for the Knicks themselves, who in the following years would face Chicago Stags (1948), Philadelphia Warriors (1950) or Fort Wayne Pistons (1951). Between 1947 and the first televised game on Christmas Day (1967, Lakers vs. Rockets), the New York franchise missed the Christmas date only twice: 1949 and 1958.
Only the sections in which the breeches They’ve gone through hardships on the court, been dropped on December 25th, becoming a fixture on the calendar, not to mention that their presence has become an NBA Christmas tradition.
From 73 times in which official games have been played on Christmas Day (only in 1998 for padlock didn’t exist) the Knicks were the franchise that has played the most times with a total of 54 and a balance of 23-31. Of all those engagements, only 8 took place away from Madison Square Garden, forever cementing the New York court’s association with NBA Christmas.
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