LeBron James Was Right, Christmas Day Belongs to the NBA

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said what we were all thinking after a long day of sports on Christmas Day.

“I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” James said.

And he’s right.

Despite his affinity for the NFL, LeBron’s comments definitely felt like he was waging war on Roger Goodell on live television right after defeating the Golden State Warriors in primetime.

The NFL is not even trying to hide the fact that they are not leaving any money on the table. This has been the case for decades but became even more apparent when selling out broadcast rights to Amazon Prime Video for Thursday Night Football and now Netflix for exclusive games on Christmas.

While LeBron might not want to hear it, we’ve all heard the phrase, “The NFL is king.” 

That just was not the case on Christmas.

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard that the NBA ratings are significantly struggling this season. On Wednesday, they got just what the doctor ordered, as their product shined in the spotlight on ABC all day while the NFL floundered. It was the sort of slate that could inspire casual hoops fans to tune into more games.

The NFL’s slate of Christmas Day games fell completely flat on Wednesday. Despite being a playoff team, the Pittsburgh Steelers were exposed as phonies while the Kansas City Chiefs easily improved to 15-1. The game was never close.

Then the Baltimore Ravens absolutely dominated the Houston Texans on the road 31-2. You guessed it; that game was also never close.

Netflix patched some of their buffering issues that plagued the much-anticipated Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight and seemed to put together a top-notch broadcast, but the product on the field was completely outshined by the NBA.

Christmas Day tipped off with future face of the league Victor Wembanyama putting up 42 points and 18 rebounds in a narrow loss to the New York Knicks. The madness continued as Kyrie Irving carried the Dallas Mavericks on a wild comeback that just fell short against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 10-17 Philadelphia 76ers, who initially looked like they did not belong on Christmas Day, shocked the world and upset the Boston Celtics outright as a +4.5 underdog. 

In primetime, James and Stephen Curry battled in a showdown for the ages that involved an epic fourth quarter three-point exchange, a blocked shot and an Austin Reaves game winner that gave the Lakers a thrilling win on Christmas. The night ended with the Phoenix Suns holding off the Denver Nuggets.

The games were so much more exciting than the NFL. The stars shined much better than the NFL’s. While the NFL is king, LeBron was right. Until proven otherwise, Christmas Day belongs to the Association.