Christmas Day Is a Lifesaver for NBA Fans, Players, and Owners

Universal Studios in Florida has a restaurant called NBA City. Engraved on the side of the building is a gigantic clock with four words: Never Stop Playing Ball.

Which is exactly the opposite of the NBA lockout. Luckily, the players and owners found away to split up their millions, and now, those four words have been made a reality. People will rejoice on Christmas Day, thanks to five great games.

The NBA had soared to new heights when Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks beat the media maniacs, the Miami Heat, in the Finals. Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Jason Terry finally achieved their lifelong goal. They did it over the "Superteam".

Christmas Day features the NBA's first game, and the best day of basketball all season long. The NBA is back. We still may ponder what the first two months may have brought us, but with the new-look Clippers, the Big Three of Miami and Boston, Kobe, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Monta Ellis, and the champs all in action, we can forget all of that.

Basketball saved itself from the ten years it took to recover from it's last lockout, which shortened the 1998-99 season to 50 games. This lockout will hurt, but with 66 games per team, the NBA will be fine.

If the lockout had kept going, all of the money the owners and players were negotiating for would be wasted thanks to the cancellation of a season. Luckily, hoops is back. Christmas Day sports will stay at an extremely high height.

Once you relive the glory of seeing presents under the tree and eating all the chocolate in your stocking, you can tune in to the Celtics vs Knicks game. Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire kick off the season against the Big Three of Boston, who want to prove they aren't aging.

Then, after you wear out your Christmas presents, you can watch a Finals rematch between the Big Three of Miami and the defending champs, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Miami wants to prove that they are the team everyone has awarded all the media attention to.

While you prepare for a lovely Christmas dinner, you can glue your eyes to two MVP's, Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose. They will be taking center stage at the Staples Center, as Kobe and company try to prove that they are still the Los Angeles powerhouse.

After Christmas dinner, when all your work is done, enjoy Dwight Howard's slam dunks, and Kevin Durant's sharpshooting collide in Oklahoma City. It will be the second-to-last tilt on the most magical day of the year.

Looking for that big finish? Just tune into the Golden State vs Clippers game to watch Chris Paul's long anticipated (11 days) team debut. He will look to feed Blake Griffin an opening day win. However, Monta Ellis and the rising Warriors stand in the way of CP3 and the Clips first victory of the new season.

That one time of year to relax is now. If you were thinking about laying down and letting your kids jump on top of you all day long, then you can change your plans.

The NBA is back, and the magic of the season has saved us all. Christmas will bring us the best present we could have for the next six months, NBA basketball.