The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions, and Alex Caruso is expecting the team to receive some proper recognition from the league moving forwards.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Caruso put forth a request––more of a demand, really––to the NBA. The veteran guard made clear that he thinks the Thunder are deserving of being spotlighted in a high-stakes game on Christmas Day.
"Until you win, they don't really care about you. They're not going to put you on TV. They're not going to talk about you. But once you win, you can't ignore it. From that aspect, we better play on Christmas next year," Caruso said. "I would love to play Christmas morning and have the rest of the day to watch football. That would be awesome."
It remains to be seen whether or not Caruso will get his wish and Oklahoma City will be granted an early game on the 2025 Christmas Day slate. The team was not playing on the holiday this past season, but Caruso thinks winning an NBA championship is more than enough of a qualification to warrant a game on the holiday slate.
Oklahoma City hasn't played on Dec. 25 since 2018 when they were defeated by the Houston Rockets, 113–109. Prior to that, they'd played on Christmas Day every year from 2010 to '18.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alex Caruso Had One Major Request for NBA After Thunder Win Championship.
