Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James admitted that the NFL outperformed the NBA in terms of ratings on Christmas Day in 2024.
Bron was defending the NBA, but even he knows who really owns Christmas pic.twitter.com/806qpgU9yd
— New Heights (@newheightshow) January 15, 2025
“I saw the f—— numbers after the fact,” James said of his comments about Christmas being the NBA’s day. “You guys kicked our a–, alright? OK? From a viewership standpoint, y’all kicked our a–. The games weren’t as great as they should have been.”
James shared that he felt that he “had to stand up for the NBA” even though the NFL had some pretty big games on Christmas during the 2024 regular season.
While the NFL may have had better ratings, James may have been correct in saying that the games weren’t that great.
On Christmas Day in 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 29-10 win. Then, the Baltimore Ravens blew out the Houston Texans 31-2. Houston failed to score any points on offense in that game, registering only a safety in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, James and the Lakers may have played the best game of the day across the NBA and the NFL when they took on the Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles defeated the Warriors 115-113 on a game-winning layup by guard Austin Reaves. After Stephen Curry helped Golden State tie the game with some ridiculous 3-point shots, Reaves put the game away with a nice drive past Andrew Wiggins in the final seconds.
AUSTIN REAVES FOR THE WIN!!!! pic.twitter.com/9XWOf1TVbA
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) December 26, 2024
After the game, James boasted in his postgame interview that Christmas Day is the NBA’s and not the NFL’s day.
LeBron: “I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day” pic.twitter.com/sQPcjwU5wO
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) December 26, 2024
James finished the Lakers’ Christmas Day matchup in the 2024-25 season with 31 points, four rebounds and 10 assists while shooting 12-for-22 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. Reaves (26 points in that game) was his sidekick on Christmas since Anthony Davis left the game early with an injury and did not score.
It’s great to see that James remains a major ambassador for the NBA even though he’s nearing the end of his amazing playing career. Despite his age (James turned 40 during the 2024-25 season), the four-time champion is still putting up major numbers.
The 20-time All-Star is averaging 23.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc while leading the Lakers to a 20-17 start to the season.
