LeBron James holds the record for the most games played on Christmas Day with 18 contests under his belt.
This year will be his 19th as the Los Angeles Lakers square off against the Golden State Warriors in a mouth-watering Xmas day match-up.
James versus Curry on Christmas Day.
It always delivers.
However, it’ll take something special to top the 2016 Christmas Day game between the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, which LeBron says is “the absolute greatest” festive spectacle he’s ever been a part of.
The heavyweight bout was a rematch of the historic 2016 NBA Finals which saw LeBron and co. become the first team in history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals.
The following season the two teams met at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland on Christmas Day 2016 in what was Kevin Durant‘s first appearance in the storied rivalry.
It was by far the most eagerly-anticipated clash of the season that far as the Warriors started off 27-4 while the Cavs went 22-6.
The primetime meeting certainly didn’t disappoint as the back-and-forth encounter ended with Kyrie Irving dropping a fadeaway jumper over Klay Thompson with 3.4 seconds left to clinch a 109-108 win for the Cavs.
Durant and Thompson combined for 60 points while James and Kyrie went for 56 as the result went down to the wire.
The Cavs trailed 94-80 early in the fourth quarter before rallying down the stretch. Irving scored 14 of Cleveland’s last 25 points as the Cavs outscored the Warriors 25-13 over the final eight minutes to win the game.
LeBron had 31 points and 13 rebounds while going 12-of-22 (54.5%) from the field.
Kyrie finished with 25 points, ten assists, seven steals and six boards while Kevin Love chipped in with 20 points as the Cavs handed the Warriors their fifth defeat of the season.
Ultimately, though, the Warriors had the last laugh as they won the championship that season by beating the Cavs 4-1 in the Finals.
Kevin Durant was named Finals MVP for the first time, something he replicated a year later.
To this day many consider the Cavs’ come-from-behind victory in 2016 as the best Christmas Day game of the 21st century.
LeBron James certainly thinks so – in 2022 he shared an Instagram story of himself and Steph Curry from the game with the words “the absolute greatest” in reference to the contest.
If this year’s matchup between the Lakers and Warriors is half as good as that NBA fans are in for a treat.
LeBron James, Steph Curry, Christmas Day.
Hard to ask for much more.