For many of the Celtics growing up, December 25 was just as much about basketball as it was about gifts and Santa Claus.

That is because Christmas Day in the NBA is like Thanksgiving Day in the NFL. It is a day when only a select group of teams are chosen to play in front of thousands of fans who are watching during their festivities. Families take breaks from opening presents and eating their holiday meals to catch match-ups between the hottest players in the league.

The Celtics are among the elite for the second season in a row. After playing against the Lakers in Los Angeles last year, the C’s will battle the Magic in Orlando on Friday at 2:30pm EST.

They realize the significance of the game and value its meaning in the world of basketball.

“[I] forever watched the NBA on Christmas Day and we were all at home, watching, eating, watching the games,” said Ray Allen. “So it seems like it's just our turn now. Guys are grown up and we've put ourselves in the situation [where] we're on a good team. We're good enough to have the ability to play on Christmas time.”

This is the biggest spotlight Shelden Williams has participated in as a pro. He has never been to the NBA playoffs, let alone played on Christmas Day. While the former Blue Devil doesn't think Friday's game can top any of the Duke-North Carolina contests he experienced, he is looking forward to the main event.

“Now that I think about it, it is kind of cool,” he said. “I mean, playing on an early game on Christmas when people are actually tuning in and watching us play, I think it’s going to be a great time.”

Williams, Allen, and Marquis Daniels are among the Celtics whose families will be joining them in Florida. It is a time for Daniels, an Orlando native, to see his younger brother visiting from college. It is an opportunity for Williams to share in his daughter's first Christmas. It is a chance for Allen to feel a sense of home with his mother, who resides in Orlando.

“At least when I'm down there everybody will be able to come to the game, everybody will be able to be at my mom's house for Christmas,” he explained. “So I won't be in my house, but I'll be home and that's where all my family will be.”

But it's not always this simple for NBA players. Families aren't always able to travel to the host city. Christmas morning can mean waking up in an unfamiliar hotel room. Instead of finding a tree and presents down the hall, there is an elevator and rows of closed doors.

Allen learned this reality as a freshman at the University of Connecticut when he spent Christmas in Hawaii for a college tournament.

“I remember then that I understood if I wanted to be in this job, if I wanted to be in this line of work, it was going to put me in different places around the world,” he said. “It was going to have me doing things that I wasn't going to be like everybody else on that normal time frame, on a holiday schedule.”

Not only was Allen away from his loved ones, he had trouble finding the holiday spirit amid the sunshine. He will have to imagine snowflakes again this year in Orlando.

“Christmas is meant to be in cold weather when there's snow around. Any time you go somewhere warm, it just takes a little bit away from it. You don't really feel as though it's the Christmas season,” he said. “Just being around the tree, cold outside, just being snuggled up by the fireplace, that's what Christmas is.”

Kendrick Perkins has a different take on the meaning of Christmas. He is happy to be part of a game that can bring families together, which he thinks is the most important part of the day.

“For some reason I'm not a big fan of holidays. I'm not. I just think people celebrate Christmas for all the wrong reasons. They look forward to presents and stuff like that instead of family-type things, “ he said. “[Ideally it'd be spent with] family, no Christmas presents unless you're 10 and under ... You get to a certain age and you shouldn't be looking forward to Christmas presents.”

A Christmas Day game can be as much of a gift to the Celtics as it is to the fans. While Allen still has a few more holiday seasons left to go, he appreciates the opportunity he and his veteran teammates like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rasheed Wallace have in the second halves of their career. Because like many holiday traditions, the Christmas game will continue to be a highlight of the day after they are done playing.

“It's somewhat like a privilege, I think, and so I cherish the opportunity because [in] a couple years we won't be on TV,” said Allen. “We'll be retired and we'll be watching somebody else play. And families all around the world will huddle around their dinner tables and they'll look at each other and they'll eat, cherish the day and each other, and watch the NBA game.”