The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Games on Christmas a privilege for players
NBA players say getting the chance to play in the showcase games on Christmas is a privilege.
Christmas has already been celebrated at Dwyane Wade’s house. His wife and kids unwrapped their presents on Wednesday night, since waiting until this morning wasn’t an option this year. Dad’s got to work. Again. Wade will wake up on Christmas morning in San Antonio, instead of being with his family in Chicago. He’s part of the NBA’s lineup on Christmas for the 12th time in his 14 professional seasons — and even though it meant having a nontraditional holiday celebration, the Bulls guard still relishes being part of the league’s showcase day.
“I won’t lie to you and say it means as much as it did when I was young or when I got to be in my first Christmas game,” Wade said. “But it is still special. At the end of the day, no matter what’s happened in my career, the NBA has put me on Christmas, let me play on Christmas, let me be part of Christmas. One day, I won’t be playing. But for now, it’s still so cool.” The annual Christmas quintupleheader — highlighted by the NBA Finals rematch of Golden State visiting champion Cleveland — involves 10 teams, five arenas, hundreds of players and team employees, who-knows-how-many workers in those various buildings and will draw about 100,000 fans.
And no fewer than seven other teams will be traveling at some point on Christmas, because they play on Dec. 26.
“It’s not a burden,” Cavaliers guard James Jones said. “You