BOSTON -- "You want the real story? Like the legit story?" Boston Celtics team president Rich Gotham asked as a bit of a mischievous, Grinch-like grin formed.
Sixty-nine years after the Boston Celtics played their first Christmas Day game, the most decorated franchise in NBA history will finally host its first holiday tilt when the Washington Wizards visit TD Garden on Monday evening (ABC, 5:30 ET).
For decades, theories have been bandied about in regard to why Boston has never played a home game on Christmas. It has become legend that Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach staunchly refused to make team staffers and Garden employees work the holiday.