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Three brothers in same NBA game: Holiday siblings part of rarity Saturday

This time of year is special partly because it brings family members together, particularly when blood relatives haven’t been able to see each other for weeks or months. For Jrue Holiday and his brothers Justin and Aaron, that will be the case this weekend – but their Saturday get-together is also unique for a very specific reason.

The NBA schedule-makers presumably are not members of the Holiday family, but it may have seemed that way in August, when it was determined that the Indiana Pacers would make their only 2019-20 visit to the New Orleans Pelicans a few days after Christmas. The matchup means Jrue – a seven-year member of the Pelicans – gets to catch up with Justin and Aaron, first-year teammates with the Pacers. It may be the first time in NBA history that three siblings have played in the same game. Off the court, it’s a rare chance for the Holidays to all be in one place, including other family members who are visiting the Crescent City to witness the uncommon event.

“It’s pretty cool,” said a smiling Jrue, 29, of competing against Justin, 30, and Aaron, 23. “I think I would’ve preferred to be on the team with one of them, instead of both of them playing against me. But it’s cool to play against them and try to beat them. It’s going to be fun.”

Aaron was an Indiana first-round pick in 2018. This summer, Justin signed in free agency with the Pacers, creating one of three brothers-as-teammates pairings in the current NBA (Milwaukee has both the Lopez and Antetokounmpo siblings).

“I thought it was really cool,” Jrue said of learning of Justin’s Indiana signing in July. “It was almost surreal. We had talked about it all the time, what it would be like to play with your brothers. I played with Justin for a little bit (in April ’13 with Philadelphia), but it wasn’t a full season. For them to have that experience is special.”

Beyond the first-time nature of the brothers competing in an official game – Jrue noted “Aaron is seven years younger than Justin, so the age gap was too big for this to ever happen (at an earlier age)” – the Holiday family is most looking forward to being able to spend precious time together off the court. Due to the hectic nature of the NBA’s 82-game schedule, that doesn’t happen much between October and the spring.

“It makes it easy, because it’s Christmastime and everyone is going to one place,” Jrue said. “(Justin’s) family is coming down, so I get to see my niece, (along with) my parents, my little sister.”

In terms of the game, Jrue joked that he’s looking forward to seeing his brothers on the opposing side, just not too much of them.

“Hopefully they don’t try to double-team me when I have the ball,” Jrue said, grinning. “But I’ll break the double-team if they do.”

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