At the beginning of December, a new ESPN hub will be launching on Disney+ in the United States, bringing a wide selection of content from ESPN onto the streaming service.  This will work very similar to how Hulu On Disney+ works, with ESPN+ subscribers and Disney Bundle Subscribers being able to get access to content directly through Disney+.

However, there will be some select content from ESPN that will be available to all Disney+ subscribers and on Christmas Day, ESPN will be delivering some live basketball action from the NBA.

Disney, ESPN and the NBA are also teaming up to present “Dunk the Halls” – the first real-time animated NBA game using Sony’s Beyond Sports technology – on Christmas Day, Wednesday, 25th December 2024, at noon ET when the New York Knicks – led by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns – host the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul. Dunk the Halls will be presented on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. The special alt-cast marks the first animated presentation of an NBA game and the first NBA game to stream on Disney+.

The virtual, live re-creation of the Spurs vs. Knicks game will be set on iconic “Main Street, USA” in Magic Kingdom Park as the teams play while Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy and Chip and Dale cheer them on. Shots of “Main Street, USA” and other famous landmarks within Magic Kingdom Park will be regularly shown, including Cinderella’s Castle.

The storyline behind the “Dunk the Halls” presentation begins with Mickey’s Christmas wish to Santa Claus to bring the NBA players to “Main Street, USA” at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort to play the first animated NBA game on Christmas Day.

Each Spurs and Knicks player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player for the special Christmas matchup. Through state-of-the-art real-time visualization technology enabled by Sony’s Beyond Sports, combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking, fans watching Dunk the Halls will see every three-pointer, dunk, layup, pass and more from the real-life Spurs vs. Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in New York as it happens.  

More production highlights:

• At halftime of the Spurs vs. Knicks game, the Disney characters, led by Mickey Mouse, will compete in a special slam dunk contest;
• Santa’s Elves will operate the cameras for the game while Santa himself will operate ESPN’s “SkyCam” during the game;
• The Disney characters will deliver pregame and halftime speeches to the players and decorate a large Christmas tree during the game;
• Fans will also get to find out if it will snow on “Main Street, USA” and see how many churros Goofy can eat.

Drew Carter will serve as the play-by-play commentator alongside ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt. The duo will be joined by a very special guest – Daisy Duck – who will serve as the sideline reporter. Carter and McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast and don ESPN Edge Innovation Partner’s Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from “Main Street, USA” thanks to VR technology and Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Virtual Commentator Technology.  

All five NBA Christmas games on December 25th will be available on ABC, ESPN, Disney+ and ESPN+. The traditional broadcast of the Spurs vs. Knicks game will be called by Ryan Ruocco, analyst Cory Alexander, and reporter Cassidy Hubbarth.

• 12:00 p.m. EST – NBA Christmas Special Presented by State Farm: San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks From Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and Jalen Brunson host the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama in what will be the French sensation’s first Christmas game.
• 2:30 p.m. EST – NBA Christmas Special Presented by State Farm: Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks
  The Dallas Mavericks and Luka Dončić host the Minnesota Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards.
• 5:00 p.m. EST – NBA Christmas Special Presented by State Farm: Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
  The reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics and Jayson Tatum host the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid.
• 8:00 p.m. EST – NBA Christmas Special Presented by State Farm: Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors
  Icons clash at 8 p.m. as the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry host the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James.
• 10:30 p.m. EST – NBA Christmas Special Presented by State Farm: Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns
  ABC’s NBA Christmas coverage culminates as the Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant host the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokić.

Roger’s Take:  With the launch of ESPN On Disney+, it looks like Disney is going all out on Christmas Day to really deliver some major NBA action and I can’t help but wonder if the decision by the NFL to air some games on Netflix might have helped given them some added incentive to deliver something big!

Are you going to be checking out any of these NBA events on Disney+ on Christmas Day?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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