This time of year you can feel a shift in television viewing. Survivor just finished. The Voice just finished. Our other network shows are on break until the New Year. The struggle is real!
Thank goodness we have Nuggets games a few nights a week, but if venture away from sports programming, prepare to run into a plethora of Christmas movies.
As I scroll through all the classics I’ve seen a hundred times, I realized we could have some fun with them. Thinking about the storylines, individual characters, and overall themes of the movies, there are a lot of characteristics that carry over to some of the Nuggets key players.
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Well I put on my Santa thinking cap to come up with a Christmas movie playlist and matched up the players that fit best into each movie. So cuddle up around the fire, grab your eggnog, and get ready for all the Christmas cheer, Nuggets style.
Emmanuel Mudiay – A Christmas Story
Emmanuel Mudiay is just a young kid with a big dream. He may not be looking for a Red Ryder gun, but he would like to shoot often and shoot well.
The rookie is finding plenty of struggles along his way. While he may get his tongue stuck on a pole in the cold Denver winter, there are bigger issues he has to overcome.
Game speed has proven too fast for him in the early months and his decision-making skills still have a ton of development left. His jump shot is flawed and inconsistent, but with time and proper coaching, will improve quickly. Currently nursing a bum ankle, he is already feeling the grind of an NBA season. We see the learning curve he is on and are along for the ride.
Both he and Ralphie are the stars of the show and everybody wants to see them succeed. Mudiay has plenty ahead of him, and hopefully he’ll be at the end holding his prize. Let’s just hope he doesn’t shoot his eye out.
Will Barton – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Dec 8, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Will Barton (5) shoots the ball the ball during the first half against the Orlando Magic at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The Griswold’s are one crazy family and their Christmas vacation just shows how all out they go. Watching Barton play, I can’t help but picture Clark Griswold trying to put on a show for everybody.
Will “the thrill” has been flying around the court, making plays, and being the energy that makes this team tick. The Nuggets are fun to watch when he is playing well.
Barton has also been involved in some pretty quirky plays thus far, including last week’s incident when he tossed Trevor Ariza’s shoe across the floor. If there’s one thing the Griswold’s know well, its awkward situations.
I may have to cruise by Barton’s house to see if he goes all out on the Christmas lights, as long as he doesn’t cause a power outage on my block.
Danilo Gallinari – Home Alone
The Italian stallion is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He is the Nuggets leading scorer and their focal point on offense. When their sets break down, he is expected to make a play.
Kevin McCallister also knows a thing or two about being forgotten. I think they are on the fourth of fifth movie of the series. You figure at some point, Child Protective Services are going to need to have a talk with his parents.
Just like the young McCallister, Gallo knows how to put up a fight. He is getting the opposition’s best defender most nights and at the small forward position, matched up against the elite athletes in today’s game. Still, he comes out and performs for himself and his teammates.
Gallinari also has a little bit of arrogance about him, but it translates to confidence on the floor. The home alone kid shows this same cockiness even under distress of robbers with violent intentions.
Next time Gallinari drains a shot with a hand in his face I’d love to hear him yell, “keep the change, ya filthy animal”.
Nikola Jokic – Elf
Jokic is a kid in an adult’s body. A really big adult body. At only 20 years old, he is one of the youngest players on the team, but acts as a serious body down low.
Just like Buddy the elf, he’s probably spent most of his life around people much smaller than himself, but now in the NBA, is learning how to handle people of his own size.
With injuries to their front court, Jokic has become one of the bright spots for Denver this season showing that he can play in this league. Nuggets fans are hoping that we can see the duo of himself and Nurkic for a long time.
The one difference I am hoping for is that he doesn’t have the same affinity for sweets that Buddy had. We have to keep him in shape for future playoff runs. Also, that sugar is rough on the teeth.
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Kenneth Faried – Die Hard
Watching Faried play is always going to be full of action, intensity, crashing, and some loud yelling. Anybody that has watched any Die Hard movie knows this is exactly what they are in for as they hang with Bruce Willis in his prime for two hours.
Die Hard is a little controversial because not everybody would consider it a Christmas movie. Obviously, the time frame makes it a Christmas movie by default, but its theme isn’t exactly full of holiday spirit.
The Manimal isn’t cut and dry either. He got paid like a top tier player a couple years ago, but has proven that he can’t be the star of a team. He is still a super valuable piece of this roster and his effort matched by very few, but his role on a winning team is still uncertain. That has led to plenty of trade rumors recently.
He still has a lot of improving to do, but Nuggets fans hope he can save the day and be a part of their first championship team.
So as you gather around the tube to enjoy some holiday classics with the family over the next few weeks, think of your Denver Nuggets and all the fun they bring to us this Christmas.