The King has spoken.
LeBron James made it clear who Christmas Day belongs to.
It’s the NBA‘s day, not the NFL’s.
“I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day” James told ESPN’s Lisa Salters, after the Los Angeles Lakers escaped with a thrilling 115-113 win over Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
On a day that saw Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs throttle the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed up by Lamar Jackson breaking records in a Baltimore Ravens win over the Houston Texans, it was the NBA’s slate of games that provide the most entertainment.
Sure, both NFL games, which were live streamed on Netflix for the first time ever, had plenty of star power, both games were blowouts and rarely competitive.
Meanwhile, the NBA had wall-to-wall great games, starting with the Spurs-Knicks, all the way to Austin Reaves’ game-winning basket with one second left over the Warriors.
From Victor Wembanyama’s big day, to Mikal Bridges putting the Knicks on his back, to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves getting revenge on the Dallas Mavericks, to Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76’ers holding off a furious Boston Celtics comeback at TD Garden, it was an excellent day of hoops.
The same can’t be said about the football that was played, not even close.
But that hasn’t stopped the NFL from trying to take the holiday.
A day that has long been associated with the NBA, has seen the NFL try and take the spotlight in recent years.
Even when Christmas Day fell on a Wednesday, in the middle of a week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell still found a way to squeeze football on to our screens.
While the NBA has lost steam, the NFL has only became bigger and bigger.
Except for today.
On a day in which Beyoncé performed at halftime of the Houston game, it was the NBA that shined the brightest.
For one day, the NBA was back on top.
For one day, LeBron James reminded everyone that the NBA was king.