Merry Christmas from Around the World of Professional Cheerleading

I hope you are having the best Christmas imaginable. In hopes of making your day just a little bit brighter, here are some professional cheerleaders wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

SI Cheerleader of the Week: Charlotte Hornets Honeybee Lauren

You should know of my love for the reboot of the Sports Illustrated Cheerleader of the Week feature. This thing was a staple for years before it inexplicably went away for a bit. But then cooler heads prevailed and they brought it back with a vengeance.

Most of you are also aware of my love for the Charlotte Hornets Honeybees. So when these two loves collide (like it did this summer with Laken's feature), you know I am on cloud nine. Today we've got Lauren's SI feature and, as expected, it is amazing.

See the rest of Lauren's feature here. Photo credit to Yeung Photography.

A Very Serious Cheer Selfie Saturday Picture

Basically every cheer selfie I've ever seen has featured some of the biggest smiles on the planet. The girls are all suited up and ready to hit the field or hardwood and show out for their team and fans. But today's Cheer Selfie Saturday picture is quite serious. I'm not sure what this Honeybee has on her mind, but she is focused!

Is It Time for the Charlotte Honeybees to Take the Court Again?

I don't know about you guys, but I have been having a serious case of Honeybee withdrawal. These lovely ladies haven't been on the court in a while, and I think I'm starting to have a physical reaction to their absence. Luckily we have a few pictures to tide us over until the season gets started back up again!

The Charlotte Hornets Honeybees Should Never Wear Anything But This Uniform

Seriously, why would the Honeybees ever wear anything but this? Those pants have to be the best thing that have happened to professional cheerleading since . . . well, I don't know what. The point is these pants are fire and the Honeybees should never be seen without them!

Charlotte Hornets Honeybee Laken Raises the Bar on the SI Cheerleader of the Week

We've been a huge fan of Charlotte Hornets Honeybees dancer Laken for a long time, so I'm glad the folks at Sports Illustrated finally found her. After all, we featured Laken back in January of 2014 when she was dancing for the Charlotte Bobcats. So, once again, we got the jump on SI.

On top of that, I think her feature (you can find the whole thing here) is the hottest Cheerleader of the Week feature since Dallas Mavericks dancer Chantel. Of course, I think Arizona Cardinals cheerleader Andrea should be in that discussion too, but I digress.

Regardless of all of this, Laken is gorgeous and she deserves all of this attention. Thanks of Yeung Photography for the pictures!

Charlotte Honeybees Playing in the Snow

Apparently when it snows in Charlotte the coach of the Honeybees issues a snow challenge to the squad. Last week they were required to go work out in the snow. As you might imagine, the results were both funny and sexy.

And now the entire country is praying for a snow storm to hit Charlotte about once a week until May! You should probably follow the Honey Bees on Instagram so you don't miss the next snow challenge!

"Hula Hooping is my workout on this beautiful snow day! 👙💪❄️My dog Titus even wanted to join! 😂🐶" -HB Devin #HBSnowChallenge2015 #HoneyBees

A video posted by The Honey Bees (@thehoneybees) on Feb 17, 2015 at 9:46am PST

This Honey Bee has accepted The Honey Bee SNOW CHALLENGED!!! A few burpies, a little yoga for stretching and planks never hurt anybody...brrr! -HB Shelby ❄️👙❄️👙❄️ #HBSnowChallenge2015 #HoneyBees

A video posted by The Honey Bees (@thehoneybees) on Feb 17, 2015 at 1:25pm PST

2nd Annual NBA Cheerleader Power Rankings

The NBA season finally kicks off for real tonight, so we just had to update our NBA Cheerleader Power Rankings. Honestly, it seemed like the only appropriate thing to do. And this year's version of the Power Rankings has a ton of changes. We have 5 brand new squads in the rankings this year. That's a full third of the list.

Plus, we have a new squad at the top of the list. While the Phoenix Suns dancers have certainly done nothing to take away from last year's title, I felt like it was time for a new champ. Fortunately for you West Coasters, we stayed in the Western Conference with the crown!

15. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

14. ORLANDO MAGIC

13. INDIANA PACERS

12. TORONTO RAPTORS

11. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

10. ATLANTA HAWKS

9. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

8. BOSTON CELTICS

7. CHICAGO BULLS

6. HOUSTON ROCKETS

5. MIAMI HEAT

4. SAN ANTONIO SPURS

3. CHARLOTTE HORNETS

2. PHOENIX SUNS

1. DALLAS MAVERICKS

Here are Your 2014-2015 Charlotte Honeybee Finalists

The Charlotte Bobcats have (once again) become the Charlotte Hornets. That means their dance team, which is always one of the hottest in the NBA, is being re-dubbed as The Honeybees. For my money that is one of the best nicknames in all of sports.

The Honeybees recently held tryouts for their 2014-2015 squad. These girls have been in training camp all week, and the official team will be named tonight! Today we're sharing all 30 finalists so you can get ready for the upcoming season. Because based on these pictures, we are going to be forced to feature the Honeybees quite often!