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LeBron James has been synonymous with NBA Christmas Day games for as long as he’s been in the league. His 19 appearances on the holiday stage are the most of any player in league history, and he has led his teams to an 11-8 record in those games, with his 11 Christmas wins representing another all-time record. And, yes, James has scored more points on Christmas Day (507) than any other player in the history of the NBA.
This year, James will play on Christmas for the 20th time in his career when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Houston Rockets at 8 p.m. (ET). In recent comments to the press, James admitted that he’d prefer to spend the holiday at home, but acknowledged the importance of the day on the NBA calendar and the honor it is to represent the league on the occasion.
“I would like to be home on the couch with my family all throughout the day,” he said. “But our number is called, so we have to go out and perform … But I mean, it’s the game, it’s the game I love. It’s the game I watched when I was a kid on Christmas Day, watching a lot of the greatest play the game on Christmas. It’s always been an honor to play it.”
Here are some of the standout performances from James’ 19 previous Christmas Day games.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic, 2003
Zion Williamson’s 32 points are the 2nd most scored on Christmas Day by a player before turning 21. LeBron James put up 34 on #NBAXmas in 2003. #NBAVault pic.twitter.com/frVWQEOTNB
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) December 26, 2020
“I’m LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and I want to wish everyone a happy holiday, Merry Christmas, and hopefully Santa brings you all your gifts that you asked for,” James said in a promotional video before making his Christmas Day debut as an 18-year-old rookie. James rose to the occasion with 34 points for Cleveland, but Tracy McGrady ultimately stole the show with 41 points in the 113-101 Orlando win.
Still, James’ performance marked the arrival of a new superstar on the NBA’s grandest regular-season stage.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Los Angeles Lakers, 2009
Christmas Day 2009 delivered a matchup between James and Kobe Bryant during a period in league history when the question of LeBron versus Kobe as the NBA’s best player was one of the hottest debates in sports. Inside a packed Staples Center, Cleveland jumped out to a commanding first-half lead that stunned the Los Angeles crowd and shifted the game’s tone for good.
James controlled the action throughout the game, with 26 points and nine assists, while Bryant notched 35 points, 10 boards and eight assists in a vintage performance — but the Cavaliers walked away with a 102–87 win.
James led the Cavaliers to a Christmas Day win in Los Angeles in 2009.
Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers, 2010
James returned to the City of Angels for a Christmas Day date with the Lakers in 2010, only this time he was wearing a new uniform and leading a different team. After joining the Miami Heat as a free agent in the previous offseason, James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the rest of the “Heatles” arrived in L.A. looking to make a statement against the defending champion Lakers, who had won back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010.
In his first holiday appearance with the Heat, James recorded the first Christmas Day triple-double of his career, dictating the game on both ends and using his size and vision to control the tempo while limiting the impact of Lakers stars Bryant and Pau Gasol. The result was a 96-80 Miami win, as LeBron’s all-around game stole the spotlight in another chapter of one of the defining rivalries of the era.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors, 2015
Six months after the Warriors defeated James’ Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals to claim Golden State’s first championship since 1975, the teams staged a finals rematch at Oracle Arena on Christmas Day. The Warriors entered the game with a 28-1 record and on pace to break the league’s all-time single-season wins record (which they did, finishing the 2015-16 season 73-9).
James and the Cavs successfully dragged Stephen Curry and the Warriors into a slow-paced, low-scoring contest, but Golden State still prevailed, 89-83. James finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, but Draymond Green delivered a monster all-around performance with 22 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. The story, however, was far from over. James and the Cavs would get their revenge when it mattered most, coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 finals to deliver Cleveland its first title in franchise history and spoil the Warriors’ record-breaking season.
James and the Cavaliers lost to Golden State on Christmas in 2015, but Cleveland got its revenge later that season, in the 2016 finals.
Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers, 2020
The NBA framed Christmas Day 2020 as a battle between eras, with James taking on basketball wunderkind Luka Dončić. Once the game tipped off, the message from the defending-champion Lakers was clear: this was still LeBron’s league. He controlled the tempo from start to finish, dissecting Dallas’ defense and steering the Lakers to a 138-115 win.
Anthony Davis led all scorers with 28 points, Dončić delivered 27 points and seven assists in his first Christmas appearance, and James ended up with 22 points and 10 assists. James also celebrating another career milestone in this game, as he moved past Oscar Robertson into second place on the NBA’s all-time Christmas Day scoring list. At the time, he trailed only Kobe Bryant, but James would go on to surpass him and claim the top spot on Christmas Day 2022.
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers, 2024
Playing in his record-setting 19th Christmas game, James led the Lakers to a 115-113 win over the Warriors, with the outcome decided by an Austin Reaves driving layup with one second remaining.
AUSTIN REAVES WINS IT FOR THE LAKERS ON #NBAXmas! pic.twitter.com/7SFj98Lmuh
— NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2024
James put on his own virtuoso performance that day, scoring 31 points and handing out 10 assists against Golden State. With the victory — the eleventh Christmas Day win in his career — James became the winningest player in the NBA Yuletide history. It’s hard to deny his status as an all-time great holiday performer, even if, by his own admission, he’d rather be celebrating at home.
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Denny Alfonso is a trending news writer for The Athletic. An Emmy Award–winning New Yorker, Denny previously covered the NBA, MLB, and MLS for ESPN, where she produced and reported the Soccer in America series, earning a Telly Award. She also covered the Rio Olympics for ESPN. Before joining ESPN, Denny worked as an investigative reporter for NBC Telemundo in Los Angeles and has been a contributor to both Yahoo and The Associated Press in New York.