Christmas games no gift for NBA stars

MIAMI (AP):

Phil Jackson and LeBron James agree: Christmas Day games are not the ideal holiday gift.

A day after the Lakers' coach reiterated his longtime stance against NBA games on December 25, James and other members of the Miami Heat said they also wish they could be with their families on Christmas.

Instead, the Lakers and Heat will spend the holiday together, playing in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.

"If you ask any player in the league, we'd rather be home with our families," James said. "I think the people that even set the games up would rather be home with their family during this day. It's not just a regular holiday. It's definitely one of those days that you wish you could wake up in the morning with the kids and open up presents."

James' two children will do their gift unwrapping on Christmas Eve this year.

Jackson is the son of two Christian ministers and he famously wrote a book on his spiritual growth related to basketball. The Lakers have been picked for a Christmas game annually since 1999.

"I don't think anybody should play on Christmas Day," Jackson said on Tuesday night before the Lakers lost 98-79 at home to Milwaukee. "I don't understand it."

Five games

Keeping with the theme from recent years, the NBA went with five games again on Christmas. Chicago are at New York to open the quintuple-header, Boston play next at Orlando, then after the Lakers host the Heat it will be Denver at Oklahoma City and Portland at Golden State in the nightcap.

Christmas games are a tradition nearly as old as the league itself.

So, too, is complaining about them.

"I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said last year.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he understands the arguments for and against playing on Christmas.

It is not a new notion for Miami, which beat the Lakers on Christmas in three successive years after Shaquille O'Neal left Los Angeles for the Heat from 2004 through 2006. Miami also lost to Chicago in 1997 and Cleveland in 2007, while beating the Knicks in 2009.

"If you play with a team that does not matter, you never play on a holiday," Spoelstra said. "When your team is viewed as a contending team, you normally play on the holidays and we view that as a good thing - because we've seen it on both sides. Certainly, the times we haven't played on Christmas we've had good family time, but it also meant we probably didn't have a great team."

Player collusion

Jackson and James do not always have their opinions in concert.

Jackson, the 11-time NBA champion, said this summer after Miami signed James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade that the "players obviously wanted to collude together and do this" - and use of the word "collude" raised some eyebrows in South Florida.

On this issue, though, the league's two-time reigning MVP and most-decorated championship coach are in perfect harmony.

"The fans, we always say it's good for the fans," James said. "But the fans get an opportunity to see us all year. We've got TV games all year. We've got a TV game on Thursday [in Phoenix]. I don't care for it too much."

Nor does Jackson, when he spoke out against the league's long-standing decision.

"It's like Christian holidays don't mean to them anything, any more," Jackson said. "Just go out and play and entertain the TV. It's really weird, but it is what it is. We have to go to work and make the best of it."