
Damian Lillard shares his thoughts on Suns’ Devin Booker
NBA veteran Damian Lillard complimented Devin Booker as a special talent and a key player for the Phoenix Suns.
The Phoenix Suns will not play on Christmas Day for the 2025-26 NBA season.This breaks a four-year streak of Christmas Day games for the Suns.
The Phoenix Suns aren’t on the NBA’s Christmas list this year.
The Suns aren’t playing on the holiday for the upcoming 2025-26 season, the Arizona Republic has confirmed though league sources.
ESPN’s Shams Charania tweeted Friday the league’s five-game Christmas slate.
The Suns played on Christmas the previous four seasons.
2021 – Golden State Warriors 116, Phoenix Suns 107.2022 – Denver Nuggets 128, Phoenix Suns 125 (OT).2023 – Dallas Mavericks 128, Phoenix Suns 114.2024 – Phoenix Suns 110, Denver Nuggets 100.
Charania also reported the NBA’s opening night schedule Oct. 21, featuring the Houston Rockets at the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers.
The opener will be a return game for Kevin Durant to Oklahoma City, the franchise (then based in Seattle) that drafted him in 2007.
The Suns traded Durant to the Rockets before the 2025 draft.
Phoenix is coming off a 36-win season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20, which was the last time it had a losing record before last season.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.