Favorite Christmas Memories of the Orlando Magic
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, December 25, 2012 with 1 comment
Courtesy of Josh Robbins
Glen Davis:
"Once upon a time, I was staying in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was, like, 5 years old. I was big into Hulkamania and little wrestling rings and you could have the guys [as action figures] and put them into the ring. And I really thought I'd seen Santa. To this day, I could sit here and say I thought I'd really seen Santa. I looked up one night. I didn't go to sleep. I looked out the window, and I really thought I'd seen Santa going up in the sky. It was crazy. To this day, if you really ask me, 'Do you believe in Santa Claus?' I'll be like, 'Yeah, I've seen him.' I am so serious."
"Once upon a time, I was staying in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was, like, 5 years old. I was big into Hulkamania and little wrestling rings and you could have the guys [as action figures] and put them into the ring. And I really thought I'd seen Santa. To this day, I could sit here and say I thought I'd really seen Santa. I looked up one night. I didn't go to sleep. I looked out the window, and I really thought I'd seen Santa going up in the sky. It was crazy. To this day, if you really ask me, 'Do you believe in Santa Claus?' I'll be like, 'Yeah, I've seen him.' I am so serious."
Al Harrington:
"When I was younger, I was playing pee-wee football. Maybe my fourth-grade year I was overweight. I was like 20 pounds overweight, so I couldn't play. I was distraught. I always wanted to be an NFL player growing up. So I couldn't play. So my dad bought me all the football equipment for Christmas: helmet, shoulder pads, thigh pads, everything. The cup. Everything. So when I got that, I was able to at least play with my friends when they got back from football practice. So that's probably the best Christmas gift I ever got."
"When I was younger, I was playing pee-wee football. Maybe my fourth-grade year I was overweight. I was like 20 pounds overweight, so I couldn't play. I was distraught. I always wanted to be an NFL player growing up. So I couldn't play. So my dad bought me all the football equipment for Christmas: helmet, shoulder pads, thigh pads, everything. The cup. Everything. So when I got that, I was able to at least play with my friends when they got back from football practice. So that's probably the best Christmas gift I ever got."
Arron Afflalo:
"I remember getting my first official NBA basketball, back when they were a different type of leather. I just remember getting my first basketball when I was 6. It came in a hanging case, and you zipped it up inside there to protect it, because you weren't supposed to dribble it outside.
"I remember getting my first official NBA basketball, back when they were a different type of leather. I just remember getting my first basketball when I was 6. It came in a hanging case, and you zipped it up inside there to protect it, because you weren't supposed to dribble it outside.
"If anybody dribbled [the official ball] outside, I would run and go stop 'em, like it was just death or something. Eventually, I just started dribbling with it outside once I realized I could get another one."
DeQuan Jones:
"There was this one Christmas — I want to say I was 10 or 11, something like that — where all of my family members came to my grandmother's house. It was in the town I was born in, a small town in Alabama called Livingston. And I have a large family. And I remember vividly the presents were literally stacked to the ceiling, to the point where you couldn't see the Christmas tree anymore. All of my family members were there. Everybody was getting along, and it's just one of those lasting memories I'll never forget."
"There was this one Christmas — I want to say I was 10 or 11, something like that — where all of my family members came to my grandmother's house. It was in the town I was born in, a small town in Alabama called Livingston. And I have a large family. And I remember vividly the presents were literally stacked to the ceiling, to the point where you couldn't see the Christmas tree anymore. All of my family members were there. Everybody was getting along, and it's just one of those lasting memories I'll never forget."
Jameer Nelson:
"Maybe this Christmas will be my favorite Christmas memory. . . . My mom's in town cooking."
"Maybe this Christmas will be my favorite Christmas memory. . . . My mom's in town cooking."
J.J. Redick:
"Christmas is always good. I think just being around family. I don't get to be with my family this year, and wasn't the last two years either. But being around [my wife] Chelsea and being around her family is great. Growing up, just having everybody together was the best part of it."
"Christmas is always good. I think just being around family. I don't get to be with my family this year, and wasn't the last two years either. But being around [my wife] Chelsea and being around her family is great. Growing up, just having everybody together was the best part of it."
Kyle O'Quinn:
"Me and my dad, 10 years straight, we used to do the Toys for Tots. He rides Harleys. We used to do Toys for Tots where you donate whatever you can strap on your bike to the children's hospital. So I used to always like doing that. You get up nice and early. You do maybe a 20-mile bike ride with hundreds of motorcycles, and then you finish up at the hospital. You go in there and you hang out with the kids in the early afternoon. That was a good Christmas memory. You're really seeing the importance of Christmas early, giving back to the kids that are less unfortunate."
"Me and my dad, 10 years straight, we used to do the Toys for Tots. He rides Harleys. We used to do Toys for Tots where you donate whatever you can strap on your bike to the children's hospital. So I used to always like doing that. You get up nice and early. You do maybe a 20-mile bike ride with hundreds of motorcycles, and then you finish up at the hospital. You go in there and you hang out with the kids in the early afternoon. That was a good Christmas memory. You're really seeing the importance of Christmas early, giving back to the kids that are less unfortunate."
Ish Smith:
"I've been very, very fortunate. Very blessed with my family. I have memories. I just remember me growing up always being the first one to wake up. Even when I was older and I was in college, all of us would come back. I don't know what it is — I'd just always would wake up earlier than everybody. It'd be 7:30 or 8 a.m. and I couldn't sleep through the night, like I was getting ready for a big game. My sisters and my brother would get so annoyed. They'd be like, 'You're 17 now, you're 18. Go to sleep, man. Relax.'
"I've been very, very fortunate. Very blessed with my family. I have memories. I just remember me growing up always being the first one to wake up. Even when I was older and I was in college, all of us would come back. I don't know what it is — I'd just always would wake up earlier than everybody. It'd be 7:30 or 8 a.m. and I couldn't sleep through the night, like I was getting ready for a big game. My sisters and my brother would get so annoyed. They'd be like, 'You're 17 now, you're 18. Go to sleep, man. Relax.'
"So those are my favorite memories about it. But I think probably my favorite Christmas, I might have been 8 or 9, and I had just started learning how to ride a bike without the training wheels. When you're little, you believe in Santa Claus and all that stuff, and I remember my mother and father kind of giving us that idea. But I caught them bringing in the gifts! So I learned at that age there's not a Santa Claus. So they sat us down and let us know the real truth and the real meaning of Christmas. So that probably is my fondest memory. They would hide the gifts somewhere, and then when we would wake up, they'd be all across the living room. Me and my brother would be like, 'We're going to fake like we're asleep and then sneak downstairs.' So we caught them."
Josh McRoberts:
"Last year probably sticks out just because I don't have a great memory. I remember last year we had a game on Christmas, so it kind of a strange year. Two weeks before that [with the NBA lockout], there probably wasn't going to be a season. And, then, two weeks later, on Christmas Day, I'm starting for the Lakers. That was pretty cool: just a whirlwind right around Christmas. I was decorating my house for Christmas in Indiana, and, then, all of a sudden, I was playing on Christmas Day in L.A. So it was something I wasn't really expecting."
"Last year probably sticks out just because I don't have a great memory. I remember last year we had a game on Christmas, so it kind of a strange year. Two weeks before that [with the NBA lockout], there probably wasn't going to be a season. And, then, two weeks later, on Christmas Day, I'm starting for the Lakers. That was pretty cool: just a whirlwind right around Christmas. I was decorating my house for Christmas in Indiana, and, then, all of a sudden, I was playing on Christmas Day in L.A. So it was something I wasn't really expecting."
Big Baby is a too silly.
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