Basketball fans were able to see players take the court as and alongside Disney characters in a “Dunk the Halls” alternate telecast to kick off the NBA’s five-game Christmas slate. Whether it was 3-pointers from New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges, who at times showed up on court as the character Donald Duck, or Goofy throwing down dunks, the NBA’s matinee Christmas Day game featured a special telecast that went live from “Main Street.”
The Mickey Mouse-themed alt-cast, which featured on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+ during Wednesday’s Spurs-Knicks matchup, featured animated versions of each team’s players with Disney characters occasionally subbing into the action. At various points, Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns was Goofy, Bridges was Donald Duck and Spurs point guard Chris Paul was Mickey Mouse. Viewers also saw Donald Duck coach the Knicks and Daisy as a sideline reporter next to the pairing of Monica McNutt and Drew Carter. Goofy and Mickey delivered halftime speeches to the Spurs and Knicks, respectively.
GOOFY THROWS IT DOWN 😤
🎁 Mickey and friends Dunk The Halls Alt-Cast: ESPN2, ESPN+, & Disney+ pic.twitter.com/dZ1bgSjVQO
— NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2024
Aside from the action-packed game, the highlight of the show came during halftime when an animated version of NBA commissioner Adam Silver and gingerbread men judged a dunk contest of Disney characters. Goofy, Donald Duck, Pluto, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were involved. Minnie won the dunk contest with an acrobatic final dunk that included jumping over a castle.
The Dunk the Halls dunk contest was ELECTRIC. ⚡️
Minnie Mouse won it after dunking over a castle 😱 pic.twitter.com/eUxDQmqZK8
— NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2024
Although there was a one- to two-minute delay between the live game and the alt-cast, the animated characters replicated the game’s events and how the characters performed. The Knicks won a 117-114 thriller at Madison Square Garden with Wembanyama finishing with 42 points and 14 rebounds and Bridges leading New York with 41 points.
Wednesday’s alt-cast comes two weeks after the network aired a “Simpsons”-themed alt-cast during a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys. Last season, ESPN streamed a “Toy Story”-themed cast for an NFL London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons. The lightheartedness of the Mickey Mouse characters, tagged with a good game and fun festivitie,s made for an entertaining watch. It didn’t hurt that the alt-cast kept viewers pleased with fan trivia during commercial breaks.
Given this was the NBA’s first animated alternate cast, Disney’s Mickey Mouse theme panned out well.
Some other notable highlights:
During the first commercial break, and throughout most of the telecast, Disney presented trivia questions about each teams’ players. Some questions for players involved asking for a favorite pre-game tradition or routine.
The telecast broke down each position on the floor, from point guard to small forward and center, explaining the basics of the game for a casual fan.
Cameras often cut to “Goofy” eating churros on the sideline, with a scoreboard to see how many he could eat. He got up to 139 by the third quarter and 181 at the start of the fourth quarter, finishing with more than 200 churros eaten.
Goofy’s on pace for 100 churros this game 😂
Dunk the Halls on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+ 🎁 pic.twitter.com/xAFxKOiff2
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 25, 2024
(Photo courtesy of ESPN)
