Christmas has always been a holiday that has been owned by the NBA. The NFL has Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday (I don't care what the calendar says, Super Bowl Sunday is a holiday), college football has New Year's Day, and the MLB has the Fourth of July.
With meaningful college football on hiatus till after the New Year, the NFL season in a lull before the playoffs, and the baseball hot stove cooling significantly after the winter meetings, the NBA uses Christmas-time to establish its relevance in the sporting world once again.
Christmas Day kicks off the start of the NBA on ABC, and it always features at least one marquee matchup. The NBA Cares program was in full effect during this week, doing great things throughout the community.
This was the NBA's opportunity to thrust itself into the headlines and stay there until June.
And, of course, there were a few Grinches out there that ruined it for everyone.
After an NBA season that saw only one major off-the-court issue in the first two months (Allen Iverson), the week of Christmas supplied plenty of drama and negative publicity for the NBA.
Kobe vs. LeBron on Christmas Day should have been the story of the week in the NBA, but instead, here's a list of the Grinches that stole the Christmas Headlines in the NBA:
Houston Rockets/Tracy McGrady
This had all the potential to be a feel-good story somewhere on par with "It's a Wonderful Life." Instead, it's turned into "The Nightmare Before Christmas" for all parties involved.
Tracy McGrady, fan-favorite turned scapegoat turned fan-favorite again, worked his tail off this offseason to get back into shape after undergoing the always frightening microfracture surgery last season.
Then, almost negating all the work McGrady put into his rehab, the Rockets kept delaying his return to action, a move in which some people speculated was financially driven (all NBA players are insured; once McGrady missed 41 consecutive games, the insurance would cover 80% of his salary until he was healthy enough to play again).
McGrady was finally activated on December 15th, playing between 7 and 8 first-half minutes for six straight games.
After asking coach Rick Adelman to increase his role, the Rockets sent McGrady home before their game on Saturday against the Nets, and it's unclear if or when he'll play for the Rockets again.
With no concrete trade offers on the table for the league's highest paid player (and, more importantly heading into the summer of 2010, the league's biggest expiring contract), it looks like it could be a long time before we see Tracy McGrady back on the floor.
Well, at least until he starts the All-Star Game.
Nate Robinson
Robinson has received a DNP-CD in each of the Knicks' last 12 games. Earlier this week Robinson, his agent, and Donnie Walsh met to discuss Nate's future, the results of which gave me my biggest laugh of the holiday season.
Apparently, Kypton-Nate has asked for a trade, and since he has Bird Rights, he can veto any trade proposal. He made short list of teams that he would accept a trade to: Boston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Orlando, and Cleveland.
Let that sink in for a second.
A 5'9" malcontent, with a shoot-first mentality, limited defensive abilities, and the inability to even crack the rotation on an 11-19 team is demanding a trade to one of the top six teams in the NBA.
The Knicks are better without Robinson (7-5) than they were with him (4-13). Does he seriously think that contending teams are going to be chomping at the bit to break their team up to acquire him?
Sure, the asking price probably won't be all that high for Robinson, but is it even worth the risk? How many of those contending teams are thinking, "We're good right now, but think how unstoppable we'd be if we just had Nate Robinson."
The only team that it even remotely makes sense for is Orlando, but Jameer Nelson is currently between injuries, and they won't consider it until Nelson gets hurt again.
For the foreseeable future, Spike Lee won't be the only diminutive celebrity sulking courtside at the Garden.
Los Angeles Laker Fans
This one hurts. I'm a Laker fan, and even I don't get Laker fans sometimes. Okay, we get it: the Lakers played terribly on against LeBron and the Cavs. I was upset by their performance, too.
But what in the hell were Laker fans thinking on Christmas Day?
It was embarrassing enough that some people (and more than just a few from what it sounded like on TV) had the balls to actually "BOO!" a team that was 23-4 at the time.
But then the Laker Fans took their classlessness to another level by throwing foam fingers onto the court.
This would have never happened if Jack Nicholson was in the building.
Stan Van Gundy
Van Gundy probably won't be getting any Christmas Cards from the office of David Stern next season after his comments about Christmas Day games.
Said Van Gundy: "I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game."
He later added: "But if I had my way, we'd take a five-day break at Christmas. I mean it."
Apparently, Van Gundy didn't have time to read my first three paragraphs about how important Christmas is to the NBA.
There are worse things than making the NBA Finals and being rewarded with a time slot the following Christmas that not only increases your teams popularity but also its income.
Van Gundy was probably speaking out of frustration because he didn't get a chance to spend Christmas with his family, which is understandable.
But the fact is, Van Gundy is the head coach of one of the best teams in the league that features one of the most popular and marketable players in the NBA. If he didn't want national exposure, he could have always taken the Bucks job.
I guess, in basketball as in life, you have to take the good with the bad, but I think Van Gundy is one of the few people in the Orlando organization that thinks that playing as part of a double-header on ABC on Christmas Day falls into the "bad" category.
Chicago Bulls
You would think that all of the Bulls' coaches come from Hooville with the way the front office has a tendency to steal Christmas from them.
In 2007, Scott Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve after the Bulls fell to 9-16 on the season.
Now it appears as if Vinny Del Negro is the latest Chicago coach to have a Blue Christmas. Reports say that Del Negro will be fired soon, possibly as early as today, and it's just a matter of finding the next head coach.
Reports also indicate that former Bulls coach Doug Collins was contacted about the job, but he has no interest (great news for TNT and NBA fans everywhere, since Collins is the best color commentator in the history of the world).
If we're being honest here, Del Negro should have been fired on Monday when the Bulls blew a 35-point second half lead to the Kings at home. He should have just cleaned out his locker after his postgame press conference and went home at that point.
The reality is, the Bulls front office probably waited until now to make the move just so they wouldn't have to fire a coach on Christmas for the second time in three years.
And if that doesn't restore your faith in the Christmas Spirit, nothing will.
Have a safe and happy New Year. See you in 2010.
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