Road Trippin with Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson Credit: The Road Trippin’ Show
By Sean Keeley on

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the NBA dominated Christmas Day. And then the NFL turned its Sauron-like eye on the holiday, and that was that.

That’s an unfortunate development, according to former NBA stars and current ESPN NBA analysts Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins. The two made it clear on a recent episode of The Road Trippin’ Show that it was a mistake for the NFL to try to take over the holiday.

The big gripe, according to Jefferson, is that American football just isn’t a worldwide sport the way that basketball is, and that should be part of the equation in our new sports media ecosystem.

“Hey, football people, I hate to break it to you, but I love flag football, and I love the encouragement of that in other countries, but no other country watches football,” said Jefferson. “The Super Bowl is like, ‘Cool, what’s going on here in America?’ As the second biggest sport in the world, people all around the world watch [basketball].

“You guys keep Thanksgiving and the food. We’ll take Christmas. We know that’s not going to happen. They’re going to try and come into Christmas. That’s just what the deal is. They just had Beyoncé. We know they’re going to have to try and come in Christmas.”

Perkins responded by noting that the NFL seemed to bite off more than it could chew as its Christmas slate failed to feature any notable contests with major stakes.

“See, they tried to be petty. They tried to be petty. And do you see the slate of games they have? That sh*t is ugly because you all should have minded y’all business and left Christmas Day to the NBA.”

“To Perk’s point, look how late it is in their season, where so many guys are banged up, so many guys are bruised up,” added Jefferson. “So it’s late in their season, and so they’re not able to put out their best product out there. If you’re going to have the entire world watching, you want to be able to put your best product out there. And if you’re doing that at the latter third of your season, it’s not the best product.”

Jefferson and Perkins might have the last laugh. While the NFL will still put up big numbers, it seems there was more interest in the day’s NBA action afterward. It also didn’t help that some viewers had issues with the Netflix broadcast. It’s unlikely, but possible, that the NFL might consider future Christmas Day opportunities and wonder whether the timing just isn’t right for them.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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