LeBron James sent a bold message to the NFL competing for attention on Christmas Day.
Today is still an NBA holiday.
Since the 2020 season, the NFL has held at least one game on Christmas Day, and even though this year's festivities took place on a Wednesday, after Netflix shelled out a whopping $150 million for exclusive streaming distribution. The league had scheduled two games. According to the Wall Street Journal.
But Christmas Day has been an NBA tradition since 1947, and games are usually played throughout the day.
This Christmas, a game was held between the Lakers and the Warriors, led by James. The game became an instant classic as both teams exchanged buckets in the final minutes of the game.
First, Stephen Curry made a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left to tie the game, then Los Angeles' Austin Reeves hit a layup with 1 second left to give the Lakers the win.
And this wasn't the only Christmas Day game that proved to be a thriller. All three games so far this holiday season have ended within six points, including the Knicks' 117-114 win over the Spurs.
This was in contrast to the NFL, where the Ravens defeated the Texans 31-2 after the Chiefs defeated the Steelers 29-10.
With all this in mind, James made his thoughts clear about the two leagues being played on Christmas Day.
“Merry Christmas to my family back home. I'm going home,” James told ESPN in a postgame interview on the court at Chase Center in San Francisco. “And I love the NFL. I love the NFL. But Christmas is our day.”
This came a day after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones revealed that he hopes a football game will be played on Christmas Day, regardless of the day of the week.
“Christmas Day is Christmas Day and we're not waiting to see what day it is. We want to be there on Christmas Day,” Jones said in a Dallas radio interview. .
“No matter what day it is in the future, I think we’ll be there for Christmas.”
But former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger felt differently, saying how tough the short week has been for pro football players.
“It's miserable,” Roethlisberger said on the “Footballin' With Ben Roethlisberger” podcast this week. “It's a shame the league would do something like this. This is a way they can make more money and solve this problem because it's all about money and it's unfair to the players. It shows that.
Regardless of whether the two leagues continue to play against each other on Christmas Day in the upcoming midweek, it's safe to say that the NBA had a more competitive group of games on this holiday.
