'I love it and hate it': Miracles, nightmares and more tales of NBA Christmas

CHRISTMAS DAY GAME memories are a blur for Doc Rivers. Since 1984, Rivers has played or coached on Christmas a total of 17 times. As he recounted two stories about his favorite Christmas moments, the Milwaukee Bucks head coach naturally turned to the Boston Celtics - Los Angeles Lakers rivalry -- but he wasn't completely sure whether one of the memories was actually on Christmas. Rivers, the former Boston head coach, told one of his favorite tales: He famously collected $100 from every member of the Celtics' traveling party on a road trip and stashed the money in the ceiling of the visitors locker room at the Lakers' home arena. (Rivers' legendary motivational tactic actually took place after a February regular-season game against the Lakers in 2010, and the Celtics returned to collect that money in the NBA Finals). He also thought it was possible that the time Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson's Lakers came out in retro short shorts against Rivers' Celtics could've happened on Christmas. (It was on Dec. 30, 2007, close enough to blend into Christmas). The Celtics and Lakers did play each other on the holiday in 2008. What Rivers does remember in exact detail is the "love-hate" nature of playing on the holiday. "I've had a lot of Christmas games," Rivers explained to ESPN. "It's different. I love it and hate it at the same time because having time with your family, it's so important. "But also, there's nothing better. It's the most favorite game to win. On a Christmas afternoon, when you finish that game and you win -- you come home with your family. It's just an amazing day. I've had some great ones." The 10 teams that play on the marquee holiday stage must fit their Christmas Day family traditions around their game-day routine at home or sacrifice opening gifts with loved ones on Christmas if they are on the road. That is why when the Golden State Warriors -- who will be playing for a 13th consecutive time on Christmas against the Dallas Mavericks at Chase Center -- are on the road Dec. 25, they will have family members fly and join them on the trip. While LeBron and Bronny James have the opportunity to play together on Christmas again, the Lakers' father-son duo still has to schedule the James family's festivities around their matchup. The NBA tries to make working on the holiday feel as celebratory as possible by giving the coaches and players a present, like a nice leather wallet, a bag or an electronic gift. "You wake up in Room 736 and you forget that it's Christmas," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told ESPN of what it's like to play a road game on Christmas. "And you look at your text from Eric Hausen [Warriors vice president of team operations] saying, 'Merry Christmas.' And you're like, 'Oh yeah, it's Christmas.' You go down for your meeting in the third-floor ballroom, and everybody says 'Merry Christmas' and you do...

Preview: ~500 words