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On this day in 1996, the Dallas Mavericks made a shocking move by trading Jason Kidd just two and a half seasons into his career. Kidd was one of the legendary prospects, and he was co-Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill in 1995 and an All-Star in 1996. But the Mavericks decided to break up their trio of Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson. Dallas fans were asking the team to unbreak their hearts after that. The team would trade both Jackson and Mashburn separately in 1997.
The haul for Kidd? The Mavs sent him, Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer to the Phoenix Suns for Michael Finley, Sam Cassell, A.C. Green and a 1998 second-rounder that would become Greg Buckner. Just a weird turn in what everybody thought would be a promising future for that trio.
Ethical basketball
So … are the Spurs the best team in the NBA?
The Thunder went into the NBA Cup semifinals looking entirely unbeatable on a historic level. They were on a 16-game win streak, they were 24-1 and sporting the best margin of victory by a mile. Then the Spurs beat them in an incredible showing of what’s on the horizon in the NBA.
After the win, Victor Wembanyama issued a statement that was more than a statement. It was a criticism echoed by the internet outside of OKC. Almost like he was speaking for all of the fans and teams the Thunder had obliterated in the past season and a third.
“I’m just glad to be part of something that’s growing to be so beautiful,” he said. “Pure and ethical basketball.”
The win was already something big for the Spurs to use as a measuring stick in their ascension in the West. But it was supposed to announce what’s to come, not what’s here and ready to ruin everybody’s predictions and expectations. San Antonio has maybe moved up the timeline on what it can be — and what it currently is. On Tuesday night, the Spurs beat the Thunder by 20 at home, a second win over Oklahoma City in 10 days.
That set the stage for another showdown on Christmas Day in OKC. Surely, the Thunder would rectify the situation and get back to their winning ways? Apparently not. The Spurs handled the Thunder after the two best defenses (OKC’s and San Antonio’s when Wemby is on the floor) combined to give up 77 points in the first quarter. After that, the Spurs settled in. And they … kind of controlled the rest of the game in a 117-102 win.
San Antonio got 29 points from De’Aaron Fox, 19 points and seven assists from Stephon Castle, plus 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench from Wemby. That’s three wins over the Thunder in 12 days.
After the game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander even ceded to the Spurs as the better team.
“We have to get better as a group,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You don’t lose to a team three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you. We have to get better … if we want to reach our ultimate goal.”
Maybe he’s right? The Spurs are the only team in the NBA that is top five in offense, defense and net rating. They’ve won eight straight games (their loss in the Cup final doesn’t officially count) and are now just 2.5 games behind OKC for the No. 1 seed in the West. They’re plus-15.1 points per 100 possessions with Wemby on the floor. But it’s not just him.
Fox has looked like he’s back to All-NBA form. Castle is impressing everybody with his growth on offense and his ability to control the pace of the action. Dylan Harper, the 19-year-old who went second in this year’s draft, is playing well beyond his years. And the mix of veterans including Harrison Barnes, Luke Kornet and Devin Vassell is a perfect complement to the youth.
Ethical basketball — the notion and intention to make basketball plays instead of hunting out loopholes in how the game is called — is smacking everybody else in the face. More impressively and importantly, San Antonio made OKC look mortal. Maybe even vulnerable? The Spurs are no longer a promise. They can be as good as anybody right now. And they are.
The last 24
Time running out for Steph?
⌛ Get it going. The Warriors are seemingly stuck in the middle. And Steph Curry is running out of title time.
🤝 Sorry all around. Speaking of the Warriors, Steve Kerr apologized to Draymond Green. Draymond apologized to Kerr. Everybody good now?
🏀 Back to School. James Nnaji was a first-round pick in 2023. Now he’ll play basketball at Baylor … the university.
🏀 Not as bad. The Nuggets’ Cameron Johnson appeared to suffer a bad leg injury. Now it’s just a bone bruise for the next month.
🏀 Bigger issue? The NBA admirably wants to end tanking and fix the lottery. But that ignores the true problem, David Aldridge writes: the lottery itself.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Big Honey Money
Jokić dominates Christmas Day
It looked like the Timberwolves were going to remind everybody they’ve been to the West finals the last two years and shouldn’t be overlooked. It looked like the Wolves were going to remind the Nuggets that they were the ones who knocked the 2023 champs off their perch and still own them in this matchup.
Anthony Edwards hit a ridiculous fadeaway 3-pointer in the left corner to force overtime on Thursday. Then in the first couple minutes of the extra period, Ant was cooking Denver. He drilled a 3-pointer with 2:59 left to put the Wolves up 124-115. Yes, Nikola Jokić was having a monster game, and Jamal Murray was complementing his play. But Edwards was having another one of those moments against the Nuggets.
Until … Jokić decided enough was enough.
I was watching with my brother-in-law and two nieces who live in Australia. They don’t follow the NBA except for a couple of weeks every year when we’re hanging out stateside for Christmas. When we first put on Wolves-Nuggets, I told them Jokić is the best player in the world.
They seemed almost alarmed and certainly befuddled. They were asking question after question to learn more about him, and I could see them processing in real time. The final three minutes of overtime cleared it up for them, as they accepted my assessment as testimony.
It completed his historic Christmas Day statline of 56 points (15-of-23 from the field, 22-of-23 from the line), 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Sure, he had five turnovers, but that didn’t matter. He powered the Nuggets’ 142-138 overtime win on Christmas, frustrated the Wolves and possibly ruined them from continuing to build confidence against Denver.
It was the third-highest scoring game on Christmas Day behind Bernard King (60 in 1984) and Wilt Chamberlain (59 in 1961). Wilt had 59 points and 36 rebounds with zero assists in a double overtime loss. King had 60 points with seven rebounds and four assists in a loss. Jokić’s line plus the win easily makes this the greatest Christmas game performance in NBA history.
Xmas statements?
Knicks, Rockets and Warriors get their shine
We had three more Christmas Day games, and some of them provided interesting storylines and statements. Let’s go through the rest of the action in a more truncated form and figure out if it matters more for the team that won or the team that lost.
Was this more about the Knicks or the Cavaliers? For a while, it looked like my doubts about the Cavs performing under the Christmas spotlight looked foolish. Cleveland was moving the ball, knocking down shots and letting Donovan Mitchell do his Superman routine. There were major swings in the game from quarter to quarter, but the Cavs were up double digits going into the fourth.
Then the Knicks (21-9) decided to remind everyone that New York is the favorite in the East for a reason. Cleveland’s mediocre march through the 2025-26 campaign wasn’t going to get better. Jalen Brunson (13 of his 34 points) pretty much matched Mitchell (16 of his 34) in the fourth. The difference was Tyler Kolek (yes, Tyler Kolek) had 11 of his 16 off the bench to help secure the comeback for the 126-124 win.
The Cavs (17-15) collapsed once again, and the Knicks left no doubt who the better team is. Again.
Did the Rockets need that win over the Lakers? We were hoping to get another Kevin Durant duel with LeBron James while also enjoying the Rockets’ big three throwing down against the Lakers’ big three. Instead, what we got was a bludgeoning by Houston (18-10) that had LA (19-10) falling into an existential crisis.
Houston had lost five of its previous seven games while being pretty healthy. It just didn’t play to its expectations or capabilities in losses to the Pelicans, Clippers and Kings. Yikes! You wouldn’t know that with the Rockets’ 119-96 beatdown of the Lakers. Afterwards, JJ Redick said the team “doesn’t care enough right now” and Luka Dončić said something needs to change.
Even worse, Austin Reaves left with a calf injury.
The Warriors ruined Cooper Flagg’s Christmas debut. It wasn’t pretty, but the Warriors (16-15) managed to avoid embarrassment on Christmas. They also managed to survive Flagg’s 27 points on 13-of-21 shooting to go with six boards and five dimes. Curry led the way with 23 for Golden State, but it was the 64-point bench production (welcome back, Al Horford) that brought the game home for the 126-116 victory.
In Flagg’s last 12 games, he is averaging 25.3 points on 54.2 percent from the field with 6.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 blocks. This has been an incredible run for the top pick in the 2025 draft, who just turned 19 last Saturday. And, yes, Anthony Davis left the game with a groin injury. It can’t all be positive for Dallas (12-20).