While the big, bad commercial world would like to have us dupes believe the holiday season is all about buying and more buying, here at RealGM we tend to look at this time of year a little more wholeheartedly.  Christmas shouldn?t be about burning an insurmountable hole through your wallet, but cherishing what?s most valuable in life- our health, families and wishing our loved ones all the best.  

 So with that in mind, the following represents our very own NBA style Christmas wish list, as the league is on brief hiatus during the Christmas holiday.  

-Here?s wishing the NBA can start to be recognized more for its league-wide parity and increased scoring on the court than all of the legal troubles and soap opera-like turmoil off of it.  

 Sure, the Palace BasketBrawl incident back on Nov.19 and the never-ending Shaq-Kobe feud does give media and fans something to talk about, but at what point is enough enough?  Scoring is up from a season ago, playoff races remain wide open, the 23-3 Phoenix Suns, winners of ten straight, are off to one of the best starts in NBA history and a whole new crop of young stars, led by King LeBron, Amare Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade, are quickly taking the Association by storm, yet we are all consumed with whether or not Shaq and Kobe are going to hug at center court Christmas Day and why Jermaine O?Neal should be serving a 15-game suspension instead of a 25-game long sentence?  

To me, that just doesn?t make sense.  Let?s just enjoy the games and not concern ourselves with all of the extra-curricular nonsense.  NBA action.  It?s fantastic.

-While we are on the topic, here?s wishing for an entertaining Heat-Lakers showdown Saturday afternoon and not some over hyped, over dramatized catastrophe of Super Bowl-like proportions.  

 Because of the Shaq-Kobe factor, Miami-L.A. could become the next big NBA rivalry, reminiscent of- dare I say?- the fabled Celtics-Lakers rivalry of the 1980?s (assuming, of course, the Lakers can become anything more than a fringe .500 basketball team).  The storylines are there, for sure.  Again, let?s just hope the action on the court can rival the drama off of it.  The league is banking on it in more ways than one.

 -For Chicago Bulls fans, we wish your team?s current five-game win streak is simply more than an aberration and is a sign of things to come for a young squad trying to live up to its vast potential.  

 After a disastrous 0-9 start, Chicago currently sits 9-15 on the season and is a mere 2.5 games out of the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference.  It?s hard to feel sorry for the Bulls after their dynasty era dominance of the 90?s, but after six miserable seasons, fans nevertheless deserve better as the organization finally appears to be headed in the right direction.

 -To Magic forward Grant Hill, we wish you continued success in your comeback attempt.  After playing in only 47 games over the last four seasons due to chronic ankle problems, Hill?s renaissance this season is a major reason why Orlando (15-10) enjoys the second best record in the East.  In 24 games thus far, Hill is averaging 19.4 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting over 50% from the field.  

 - To Minnesota Timberwolves guard Latrell Sprewell, we particularly wish you a Merry Christmas because we all know how hard it must be to feed a family with a mere $14 million annually.

 - To newly-acquired New Jersey Nets guard Vince Carter, we wish you much success with your new team because it really is time for you to quit pouting and dogging it out on the court and start playing like a legitimate franchise player.  

 - To New York Knicks President Isiah Thomas, we wish you?d take a step back, look at your underachieving team (13-13 thus far) and realize one of these days that money doesn?t buy championships, or even wins in a relatively weak conference for that matter.  

 Trying to throw a bunch of over-rated, overpaid players together does absolutely nothing.  The Knicks aren?t going to win a title anytime soon, and they sure won?t as long as one New York GM after another feels that throwing money down the toilet is the cure-all to winning.

-And finally, to troubled Pacers forward Ron Artest, we wish you?d just be able to focus solely on the game of basketball.  Forget the rap albums, the tirades and the unintelligent post-game comments.   You?re a heck of a basketball player with all the baggage.  Imagine what kind of player you can be if you simply remained focused.  

 Merry Christmas, NBA fans.  Hope all of your holiday wishes come true.