The NBA's highly anticipated Christmas Day slate gives Miami Heat fans a brutal realization of how much they've fallen out of the realm of relevance in the Association. No matter what fans may believe, the Heat are nowhere near relevance in the NBA, and their absence in the Christmas Day schedule all but confirms that.
In the last 10 years, the Heat have just played on Christmas Day twice. For the second straight season, the Heat didn't get a nod on Christmas Day.
It should send a strong message to the front office, essentially saying that they're not good enough, they don't have enough star power, and they don't factor into the commercialization of the Association.
The Heat have fallen from grace over the last few years
For a franchise that has consistently been one of the pillars of the NBA, the Heat have certainly fallen emphatically over the last few seasons. Even during the last couple of seasons with Jimmy Butler, the writing was on the wall for the Heat.
That was part of the reason why the Heat didn't want to pay Jimmy a huge contract. They were already teetering on the line of mediocrity with Jimmy. The thinking was that it would probably only get worse as he continued to age.
Nevertheless, let's also not act like trading Jimmy solved anything for the Heat. Miami, especially after they've lost nine of their last 11 games, is still a Play-In Tournament team at best.
If anything, the only thing the Heat truly accomplished in trading Jimmy was to help lighten up the mood in the locker room and to ease the tax bill.
The Heat are still stuck. And the worst part is that there aren't any clear paths to break out of this funk for the franchise. Unless, of course, the Heat can figure out a way to close the deal on a superstar acquisition.
But, as we've seen recently, that's been a lot easier said than done.
Christmas Day is generally a day to be thankful and a moment when you reflect on the true and important things in life. However, especially for a team like the Heat, you can't help but be hit with the reality of how far they've fallen down the hierarchy in the Association.
It's just another brutal reminder for fans who remember a better time for this Heat franchise, and of how far they are from sitting atop the NBA again.