MIAMI _ For seven consecutive seasons, until last year, Christmas was about basketball for the Miami Heat.
For the second consecutive year, amid the rebuild from the team's Dwyane Wade and Big Three eras, it will be about something else.
And this year, something unique.
Coach Eric Spoelstra is an expectant father.
Guard Wayne Ellington now has a son to dote upon on Christmas morning.
Guard Dion Waiters has time away from the court with his newborn daughter.
And center Bam Adebayo has the resources to make up for the hardships of Christmases past.
"I really love seeing this young team grow and start to develop young families within the Heat organization, and it is fun, it is different," Spoelstra said, making sure to carve out family time for his players during his team's two-day break. "And it seems like every time you turn around, somebody in our organization is expecting a baby."
Ellington's first child, Wayne Robert Ellington III, was born March 22.
"Ah, man, it changes the whole Christmas experience," the 3-point specialist said with a smile. "I'm used to being the kid on Christmas. It makes you look at Christmas different. For me, now, I've got my own family."
Before it was about his fiancee, nieces and a nephew.
"Now that I've got my own little man, I can put all my attention on him," he said. "He'll be up way earlier than me. I'm sure he'll be waking me up.
"It's his first Christmas. He doesn't really understand what's going on yet, but we're still going to make the best of it."
Waiters' daughter, Dior Raina Waiters, was born Nov. 5. He said having the time with family makes any time special.
"That's the best thing ever, being around your family, you don't have to worry about nothing," he said. "Just you're happy. Whatever you got going on, everything stops, especially when I see my kids and my family."
He already knows he will be up early. Lately, there hasn't been a choice, no matter the day.
"My daughter doesn't sleep," he said, "worst sleep ever. My son was easy because he slept through the night. My daughter, man, she's a diva. Man, every hour, two hours, it's crazy. It's definitely different."
For Spoelstra, fatherhood will arrive soon enough, already with plenty to take stock upon, from his marriage to his professional success, including recently passing mentor Pat Riley on the Heat's all-time regular-season coaching victory list.
"It's fun," he said. "There's been a lot of changes in my life in just the last three years. And then, since there's been a lot of talk the last 10 years of coaching, you realize time flies and a lot of changes that happen in that short period of time."
The change for Adebayo, raised by a working mother amid financial struggles, is a Christmas without financial concern.
"My mom made ends meet. She provided for me. I didn't really ask for nothing for Christmas. I didn't want no big deal," he said of what had been. "So this Christmas I can get her something special."
Instead of making ends meet, Adebayo said it is comforting to meet the needs of those he cares most about.
"Pretty much I can get my family members anything they want. That's a blessing," he said. "At the end of the day, just having that opportunity to just give and make somebody else happy for Christmas is the only thing I could ask for."
