Jalen Williams' plan for Thursday is mapped out like this: Presents in the morning, then a game in the afternoon.
To him, that sounds like an exceptional Christmas.
Williams and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder — who felt snubbed by the Christmas schedule makers a year ago — are on the league's slate of showcase games this year, taking on the San Antonio Spurs as part of the annual Dec. 25 quintuple header.
The schedule, with all times Eastern: Cleveland at New York gets things started at noon, followed by the Spurs at the Thunder at 2:30 p.m., Dallas at Golden State at 5 p.m., Houston at the Los Angeles Lakers at 8 p.m. and Minnesota at Denver at 10:30 p.m.
“As a basketball player, I feel like you grow up — actually, if you're a sports fan, you grow up watching sports on Christmas. To be able to be a part of it is really cool,” Williams said. “What time do we play, 1:30 (Central)? Yeah, we're like the cool game. Like, 1:30, presents have already been opened and everybody's kind of watching the games. I'm really looking forward to that.”
For most of the Thunder, it'll be a first: The only current Oklahoma City players who have scored in a Christmas game are Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. And it’ll be the second Christmas game for San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, whose holiday debut last year was a 42-point, 18-rebound effort against New York.
“It's a big day for the NBA and the guys are excited to play on that slate of games," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It's one of 82 at the end of the day, but it is an elevated circumstance because of the attention on the game and the noise around it. Those are good experiences for any team and certainly for us.”
The Thunder are an NBA-best 26-4 this season — 26-2 against every team but the Spurs, 0-2 against the Spurs. San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 130-110 on Tuesday, after ousting the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals earlier this month.
“They're going to be locked in, like, more than any time before, probably,” Wembanyama said of the looming Christmas meeting.
For LeBron James, it will not be a first: If he plays Thursday with the Lakers, it'll be his 20th Christmas game. That's more than 17 current franchises have played in their existence.
“I'd much rather be at home with my family,” James said. “But it's a game, it's the game I love, it's a game I watched when I was a kid on Christmas Day, watching a lot of the greatest play the game on Christmas. It's always been an honor to play it. I'm going to be completely honest: I would like to be home on the couch with my family all throughout the day, but my number is called, our number is called, so we have to go out and perform.”
James playing in his 20th Christmas game would mean the record books will need updating again when this holiday slate is complete.
He already is the all-time Christmas leader in games played, points (507), wins (11), field goals (180) and 3-pointers made (31, tied with James Harden).
Up next: assists, steals and free throws. James is currently second in Christmas assists with 137, eight behind Oscar Robertson. He also is second in steals with 28, two behind Russell Westbrook, and second in free throws made with 116 — nine behind Robertson on that list.
James is sixth in Christmas rebounds with 143, one behind No. 5 Dolph Schayes, nine behind No. 4 Wilt Chamberlain and 12 behind No. 3 Shaquille O’Neal. (No. 1 Bill Russell, with 176, and No. 2 Wes Unseld, with 163, are probably safe from James this year.)
While James and Harden are tied atop the 3-pointers made list, some other familiar names could rise with big efforts on Thursday.
Dallas' Klay Thompson enters the day No. 3 on the list with 27 made 3s on Christmas, one ahead of Golden State's Stephen Curry and Houston's Kevin Durant.
The Christmas wait goes on for some teams.
Sacramento hasn’t played on Dec. 25 since 2003, Indiana — which might have gotten the nod this year if Tyrese Haliburton didn’t get hurt in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — hasn’t made the Christmas list since 2004 and Detroit hasn’t since 2005.
To put that into context, it should be noted that Seattle — which hasn't had a team in nearly two decades — played its last Christmas game in 2007, or more recently than the Kings, Pacers and Pistons have.
Orlando hasn't played on Christmas since 2011, and Chicago hasn't since 2016. Meanwhile, Boston's nine-year streak of Christmas appearances comes to an end this year.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Lakers are playing on Christmas for the 27th consecutive year and Golden State is playing on Christmas for a 13th consecutive season.
“Just excited for another big game on Christmas Day,” Curry said Monday after the Warriors won their second straight to get to 15-15 on the season and go into the holiday with a bit of momentum. “The vibes are good right now.”
Dallas' Cooper Flagg — who turned 19 this week — is set to make his Christmas debut.
If Flagg plays, he'll be the fourth-youngest player to appear in a Christmas game. Kobe Bryant, Bill Willoughby and James were all 18 in their first Christmas contest.
Durant is set to play on Christmas for a fifth different team (and a sixth different jersey), which makes his holiday paths one of the most traveled in league history.
Durant also has played on Christmas for Seattle and Oklahoma City, then Golden State, then Brooklyn, then Phoenix and on Thursday, the Rockets — the team he joined this past summer — get added to the list.
O'Neal (Orlando, Lakers, Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston) played on Christmas for six teams. Among those who have played on the holiday with five franchises: Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.
Of the 10 teams playing on Christmas this year, eight come from the Western Conference.
That's the most from one conference on Christmas since 1978, when the Eastern Conference saw eight of its then-11 teams picked to play on the holiday.
The last time the East had more teams playing on Christmas than the West was 2004. Since then, including this year, the holiday schedule has seen an even East-West split 10 times and the West has seen more teams picked for the holiday slate on 11 occasions.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, right, argues with Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams pushes down the court during the second half of an NBA Cup basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick, right, talks to Lebron James during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain planned to hold a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.
Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the U.S. to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”
Before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil used passed through it.
Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed U.S. military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”
A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by U.S. strikes are “insignificant.”
Just before Trump began his address — in which he said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.
Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech.
Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.
In Lebanon — home to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants who are fighting Israel, which has launched a ground invasion — an Israeli strike killed four people in the south, the Health Ministry said.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
More than 1,200 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.
In order to bypass Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has been piping more oil to a Red Sea port, and Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to the Mediterranean.
The 35 countries speaking Thursday, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.
Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.
No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”
But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after U.S. and Israeli attacks on it cease.
The idea of an international effort has echoes of the “coalition of the willing,” led by the U.K. and France, that was assembled to underpin Ukraine’s security in the event of a ceasefire in that war. The coalition is, in part, an attempt to demonstrate to Washington that Europe is doing more for its own security in the face of frequent criticism from Trump.
The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.
On Thursday, Brent crude, the international standard, rose again and was at $108 in spot trading, up about 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war.
Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted by the conflict, with consequences for travel worldwide.
Weissert reported from Washington and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writer David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this story.
Mourners gather during a funeral procession for Alireza Tangsiri, head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, and others killed in Israeli strikes in late March, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People take cover in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump walks from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
