The NBA’s Christmas Day schedule looks more lit than your neighbor’s holiday decorations

There’s been this narrative all year that it’s the year’s fault. COVID. Quarantine. Politics. Protests. Recession. Tragedy. Turmoil. “2020, bruh,” we have all said on at least one occasion, believing that a simple turn of the calendar page come January 1st will solve all of our problems. This is, of course, not true, but we cling to it anyway because, well, what the hell else is there to hold onto?

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But finally, the collective power of positive thinking may actually be paying off, because lo and behold it’s December and for the first time in months, there may actually be light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, COVID cases are at an all-time high, but vaccines are out for delivery. Yes, some people are going to hate the new president, but at least he’s not this president. And yes, the NBA season is tipping-off about two months late, but the tentative Christmas Day lineup is one of the best we’ve ever seen. No exaggeration. Consider the matchups, the star power, and the egg nog, and then try to tell us you don’t feel a tiny little glow of optimism deep in the pit of your stomach (or maybe that’s just the egg nog.)

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It won’t save the world, but at the very least it’s a start. You’ve got Lonzo and Zion vs. Jimmy and Herro for brunch, Steph vs. Giannis for New Yorker brunch, our first glimpse of KD and Kyrie for dinner, Luka and LeBron for New Yorker dinner, and a rematch of this fall’s Western Conference Semis for the night cap. All in all, not a bad way to avoid your family come Christmas Day.

The only little problem is that word “tentative.” If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that if something isn’t hardwired in—welded to the damn frame and then bolted to the floor—it’s liable to get pushed, put off, and postponed until suddenly Christmas Day is more like Valentine’s Day. But hey, we can cross our fingers, pray to Santa, and hope against all hope, reason, and logic that the fat man comes through. At this point, what other choice do we have?