The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors met on Christmas Day this year as LeBron James, who is one week away from his 40th birthday, turned back the clock and put on a vintage performance vs. his long-time rival Stephen Curry.
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๐ LeBron on Christmas Day 2003:
34 PTS | 2 REB | 6 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK๐ LeBron on Christmas Day 2024:
31 PTS | 4 REB | 10 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLKThe gift that NEVER stopped giving. ๐ pic.twitter.com/xKtd6BqzGd
— Witness King James (@WITNESSKJ) December 26, 2024
LeBron ended up with 31 points (12-of-22 FG) and 10 assists in the Lakers' 115-113 win over the Warriors, while Curry dropped 38 points on 14-of-24 shooting (8-of-15 3PT).
LeBron and Steph delivered two Christmas Day classics. 8 years apart ๐คฏ pic.twitter.com/BmtopSJhGw
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 26, 2024
To point out, LeBron seemingly likes playing on Christmas as he now has the most-all time wins (11) and most all-time points (507) on the most popular holiday of the year.
Young LeBron getting a basketball hoop for Christmas.
The rest is history. pic.twitter.com/fVyOuyzbqW
— Hoops ยฉ (@HoopMixOnly) December 24, 2024
Following an impressive performance in his 19th career game on December 25, LeBron announced to the world that Christmas is a day of basketball, not football.
"I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day," LeBron said.
LeBron James: "I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day." pic.twitter.com/aYGNODI5ud
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 26, 2024
To note, the NFL broadcasted Christmas games on Netflix for the first time ever, however, both highly-anticipated AFC matchups turned out to be blowouts (Chiefs def. Steelers 29-10; Ravens def. Texans 31-2).
In view of the Lakers/Warriors matchup, the player of the game was Austin Reaves as he put up a triple-double: 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Not to mention, Reaves also had two clutch free throws down the stretch and the game-winning layup, which spoiled Curry's attempted comeback.
Warriors fans thought they were in for a Christmas miracleโฆ
Enter Austin Reaves: pic.twitter.com/aOYAFKYAAn
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) December 26, 2024
AUSTIN REAVES SAVED CHRISTMAS pic.twitter.com/grCCOyrYt1
— ๐๐ช๐ถ๐ซ๐ช๐๐ค (@HoodiiMamba) December 26, 2024
To point out, many of the Christmas Day NBA games came down to the wire.
Following the Phoenix Suns' 110-100 win vs. Denver, 2x MVP Kevin Durant (342 Christmas Day points- 4th all-time) reiterated LeBron's message of entertaining the fans.
"It was an amazing day for basketball, I'm grateful I was able to play," Durant said.
"It's not just [me, Steph and LeBron], you see Jokic tonight. You see a hall of famer, an icon in Russ tonight. ... It was an amazing day for basketball, I'm grateful I was able to play."
โKevin Durant wraps up NBA Christmas in the perfect way ๐ pic.twitter.com/wPKcXEk4D9
— ESPN (@espn) December 26, 2024
All in all, many fans probably think the more televised sports the better, but the NBA certainly turned out to have more entertaining games on Christmas this year.
NFL vs NBA on Christmas Day:
2 Blowouts 2 Bangers
100% Napping 2 Classics
392 Viewers 40% of Earth Watching
0 Lebrons 1 LeBron@NFL YALL CAN KEEP THIS SHIT NEXT YEAR, WEโRE WATCHING THE NBA ๐ญโ๐ฝ๐ฏ๐ซก pic.twitter.com/voCH1U7aTT— Hater Central (@TheHateCentral) December 26, 2024
Even so, the NFL still averaged 5x the viewership.
The average viewership of the NFLโs Christmas doubleheader and the NBAโs Christmas games ๐
(via: @FOS) pic.twitter.com/mrcw9fkKoD
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) December 27, 2024
