Should the NBA play on Christmas?

The NBA season is set to get underway tomorrow on Christmas Day, and while I am extremely excited to watch basketball again, I wonder if it is right to force these players to play on Christmas instead of allowing them to celebrate the holiday with their families.

Everyone would like to be free to celebrate Christmas with their families, and the players are no exception.  They too have much better things they'd rather do than play basketball to entertain everybody, and if no one else is working, why should they have to?

On the other hand, the NBA is a business, and the leagues make a lot of money off these Christmas Day games, so I can certainly see how it makes sense from a business standpoint to make these players play.  Plus, these athletes are getting paid big time money.  The league minimum is $400,000, and I'd certainly give up a few hours of my Christmas for $400,000 a year.

The NBA season will start on Christmas Day.

What do the players and coaches in the league think about being forced to work on Christmas?  Well, for the most part, they're opposed.

"If you ask any player in the league, we'd rather be home with our families," Heat forward LeBron 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."

Former Lakers' Coach Phil Jackson agrees with him.  "I don't think anybody should play on Christmas Day," he said.  "It's like Christian holidays don't mean to them anything any more."

Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra sees it differently and views it as an honor to play on Christmas.  "When your team is viewed as a contending team, you normally play on the holidays and we view that as a good thing."

With all things considered, I don't think it's right to play on Christmas.  Is basketball essential to Christmas?  No, of course not.  Christmas is about spending time at home with family.  Fans and players should have much better things to do than watch and play basketball.  Stan Van Gundy, coach of the Magic, went far enough to say that he would "feel sorry" for any fan that had "nothing better to do than watch an NBA game" on Christmas, and I would too.  There are better things than basketball on Christmas, so I think these games should no longer be scheduled to allow players and coaches to celebrate the holiday as they please.

What do you think?  Should the NBA continue their tradition of Christmas Day games because it is an honor and it makes them a lot of money?  Or should they stop scheduling games on Christmas in the future to allow players and coaches the right to spend time with their families?