With ~60 hours left in 2024, we’re happy to spend a few minutes with you talking ball, especially because we have a hype slate of facts, ‘fits, and fun today! Let’s get into it:

Today’s Lineup

🎄 Our Favorite Christmas Jerseys of All Time

This past NBA Christmas Day was iconic by all metrics (more on that in a second), but one valid criticism was that it didn’t really feel particularly Christmasy compared to years past.

Yes, there were a few bright spots we appreciated: the Boston Celtics rocking red accessories to go with their green jerseys, the snowflakes on the back of player uniforms, and Jeremy Sochan saying he wants to “steal Christmas in the Garden” with his Grinchy green hair.

Still, we really miss NBA Christmas jerseys, and that had us reminiscing on our favorites. LeBron even Tweeted out a similar sentiment: #LeWhompWhomp. Let’s review some of our favorites!

First are the S-tier Christmas jerseys: the slanted script font ones. These are synonymous with NBA Christmas in our opinion. The NBA and Adidas cooked up several versions of these during the late 2010s and knocked the elegant, wintery look out of the park. Plus, when we think of that historic 2016 Cavaliers vs Warriors matchup on Christmas Day, LeBron, Steph, and KD are iced out in these unis.

Remember how dope these sleeved jerseys were?! Some people clowned ‘em because the logos were (admittedly) comically large, but we love a good sh-ersey when executed well. Not all colorways of these were great (*cough cough*, Warriors), but we loved Melo in the neon orange and LeBron in the deep red.

Lastly, we want to give a shoutout to the 2014 Christmas jerseys. Their actual looks are pretty clunky, but the concepts are 10/10. Adidas put the first names of the players on the back of the jerseys, which was a fun change of pace. A “Carmelo” jersey has so much more aura than an “Anthony.” Plus, the idea of rocking an OKC “Kevin” jersey is hilarious.

♟️ Wemby Plays Chess with Locals in NYC

After facing the Knicks and Nets in New York over the past week, Victor Wembanyama didn’t spend his weekend hitting a club or seeing the glitzy sights of the city. Instead, Wemby asked his followers on X where the best spot to play chess is in NYC and showed up at 9:30 AM to the historic Washington Square Park! He played The Game of Kings against local chess savants and hoops fans for a few hours.

Afterwards, Wemby pitched an idea on X: a NBA players-only chess tournament with prize money going to the charity of the winner’s choice.  How cool would that be?!  

We can’t overstate how impressed we are that Wemby, a 20-year-old multimillionaire celebrity, spent his weekend in New York City waking up early to play chess with strangers in the cold rain. This kid is so mature and down-to-earth—plus, it demonstrates his competitive sicko factor that makes the greats great.

NBA games are always our favorite Christmas Day present, but this year Santa put up Wilt numbers with five BANGERS across the day. And the results showed from a ratings perspective.

We’ve tried to ignore the discussion of decreased NBA television ratings, mainly because we still think the NBA product is phenomenal. Why does the streaming numbers or ad revenue affect us as consumers? So what if the NFL also puts games on Christmas? We just want good basketball, and we still have it in spades.

But to quiet the haters, we’ll leave these numbers. This NBA Christmas Day was the most watched in five years, with viewership up 84% versus last year. Yes, LeBron and Steph gave us another iconic page in their histories, but Spurs vs Knicks also captivated millions who tuned in to watch the fun Nova Knicks battle The Alien. So yes, the NBA is still in amazing hands. Yay us!

Signing Off

Our last Out Of Bounds of the year is in the books! We hope you had an amazing holiday season full of happiness, hope, and hoops. See you in 2025, OOB crew! 🫡 

-Conor Geelan