LeBron James has averaged 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists during 13 appearances on Christmas Day throughout his NBA career. While playing against teams like the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors, LeBron has headlined the regular season marquee during highly-anticipated matchups with Hall of Famers like Tracy McGrady, Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. This year his Lakers team will meet crosstown rival Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers in the biggest regular-season game of the year.
LeBron heads into the matchup with the Clippers as the owner of a 9-4 record on Christmas. Flanked by Paul George, Leonard’s group from Los Angeles represents the biggest threat to potentially eliminate the Lakers in the Western Conference playoffs this season. They also handed the LeBron’s squad an opening night loss to begin the year. To prepare for this superstar showdown in L.A., we’ve compiled the complete history of LeBron’s Christmas Day performances dating back to when he first dropped 34 points as an 18-year-old rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
2003: Cleveland Cavaliers (9-19) at Orlando Magic (7-22)
Marquee Opponent: Tracy McGrady
Score: Cleveland loses 113-101
LeBron Stats: 34 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds
LeBron James was 18-years and 360 days old when he made his Christmas Day debut on the NBA stage. During the 2003 matchup with Tracy McGrady and the Orlando Magic, LeBron scored 34 points while dishing out six assists. That scoring total is currently the most points ever scored by a rookie during a Christmas Day game according to Basketball Reference.
Heading into this year’s slate of contests, there have been 444 NBA rookies who have played on Christmas since 1963. None of those rookies scored as many points as LeBron did in Orlando. Despite the historic effort from James, however, the Cavaliers would lose the game by 12. McGrady led all scorers with 41 points to go along with 11 assists and eight rebounds.
“He’s not 18,” McGrady declared about LeBron after the game. “Can’t possibly be. If he continues to work hard and stay hungry, it can be ugly. It’s scary how good he can be. You just look at him, man. The poise that he has out on the basketball court. The confidence. He has that swagger.”
2007: Miami Heat (8-19) at Cleveland Cavaliers (12-16)
Marquee Opponent: Dwyane Wade
Score: Cavs wins 96-82
LeBron Stats: 25 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds
LeBron James met his good friend and fellow member of the 2003 draft class, Dwyane Wade, on Christmas Day 2007 when the Miami Heat traveled to Cleveland. At the time, Miami was anchored inside by Shaquille O’Neal who had helped Wade win the 2006 NBA championship and Finals MVP.
LeBron would score 25 points in the contest while dishing out 12 assists compared to only one turnover. Wade offered 22 points and eight assists but would lose to LeBron’s Cavs by 14. Shaq scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Drew Gooden scored 18 and collected nine boards in support of James.
“When we play defense we’re a pretty good team,” James said after the victory. “When we don’t, we don’t look so well — simple as that. Today was a good step.”
2008: Washington Wizards (4-24) at Cleveland Cavaliers (24-4)
Marquee Opponent: Antawn Jamison
Score: Cavaliers win 93-89
LeBron Stats: 18 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds
LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers owned a 24-4 record that was slightly better than the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers heading into their Christmas Day matchup against the Washington Wizards in 2008. The Wizards, led by Antawn Jamison, owned a directly opposite mark of 4-24. But despite the Cavs being big favorites at home, this contest between the two teams who had recently met in the playoffs would go down to the final buzzer.
LeBron scored only 18 points while dishing out six assists and grabbing five rebounds in one of the lowest statistical efforts of his Christmas Day career. James did come through when it mattered most, however, scoring nine of those points in the fourth quarter to do just enough to secure a four-point victory. Jamison led all scorers with 28 for the Wizards.
“Not a pretty one and we’re not satisfied at all,” LeBron said afterwards. “But we’ll take the win. Would have ruined my Christmas if we lost.”
2009: Cleveland Cavaliers (22-8) at Los Angeles Lakers (23-4)
Marquee Opponent: Kobe Bryant
Score: Cleveland wins 102-87
LeBron Stats: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists
This should’ve been a preview of the 2010 NBA Finals. On Christmas Day 2009, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to Staples Center for one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the season. Cleveland quieted the Los Angeles crowd by jumping out to a 20-point lead in the second quarter, though, and ran away with a convincing victory.
Ron Artest spent the majority of the night guarding James who finished with 26 points, nine assists and four rebounds against one of the league’s best defenders who also forced LeBron into seven turnovers. Kobe did Kobe things while finishing with a game-high 35 points to go along with 10 rebounds and eight assists during a staggering 45 minutes of work. Despite the loss, the Lakers would eventually defeat a Boston Celtics team who eliminated LeBron and the Cavs from the playoffs that year in the NBA Finals.
“It wasn’t about sending a message to them,” James said following the win over L.A. “It was about sending a message to ourselves and seeing how we match up with the best team in the NBA at this point.”
2010: Miami Heat (22-9) at Los Angeles Lakers (21-8)
Marquee Opponent: Kobe Bryant
Score: Miami wins 96-80
LeBron Stats: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists
The first Christmas Day triple-double of LeBron’s career came during his first holiday appearance as a member of the Miami Heat. Heading into this year’s slate of games, only five players in NBA history have ever recorded a triple-double on Christmas Day. In 2010, LeBron joined Oscar (who accomplished the feat four times), Billy Cunningham and John Havlicek by scoring 27 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists.
Since 2010, only Russell Westbrook and Draymond Green have recorded triple-doubles on Christmas according to Basketball Reference. The all-around effort from James that also included solid work on Kobe defensively resulted in a 16-point win for the Heat. Bryant finished with only 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field.
After being asked about a heated conversation LeBron had with Kobe while jogging down the court together in the closing minutes of the game James replied,”Just asked him what he got for Christmas.”
2011: Dallas Mavericks (0-0) at Miami Heat (0-0)
Marquee Opponent: Dirk Nowitzki
Score: Heat win 105-94
LeBron Stats: 37 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists
Just over six months had passed since the mighty Miami Heat fell to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals before the two teams met again on Christmas Day that same calendar year. During this mega-rematch—the first of five NBA Finals rematches LeBron has competed in on Christmas Day—James exploded for the highest-scoring December 25th performance of his career.
What also made this particular game special for LeBron and the entire Association was that it served as the opening night for a lockout-shortened season. This was the first time the NBA world had seen LeBron since he struggled during the worst performance of his career in the Finals loss to the Mavs and he certainly responded.
“We tried to play aggressive,” LeBron said after the Christmas Day victory to open the season. “We’re a focused team. We had a great training camp. We came in with the same mindset we had at practice, use our speed and play with mental focus.”
2012: Oklahoma City Thunder (21-5) at Miami Heat (18-6)
Marquee Opponent: Kevin Durant
Score: Miami wins 103-97
LeBron Stats: 29 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds
Christmas Day 2012 was also a rematch of the previous year’s NBA Finals for LeBron James and his Miami Heat. This time it was against an Oklahoma City Thunder team led by a young Kevin Durant who they had eliminated to win LeBron’s first championship. James nearly recorded a triple-double in this particular contest while going for 29 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Kevin Durant countered with 33 points and seven boards while Russell Westbrook scored 21 and collected 11 rebounds.
But LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would earn the victory over Durant and Westbrook by a margin of six points. The Thunder trailed by only two heading into the fourth quarter but the Heat did just enough to win an entertaining celebration of holiday basketball.
“Both teams really played up to the billing,” Dwyane Wade said following the Christmas Day headliner. “An excellent basketball game.”
2013: Miami Heat (21-6) at Los Angeles Lakers (13-15)
Marquee Opponent: Pau Gasol
Score: Heat win 101-95
LeBron Stats: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
LeBron James did not end up meeting Kobe Bryant on Christmas Day in 2013. Bryant missed what would’ve been the third and final installment of this iconic individual matchup on the biggest stage of the regular season and the Heat would take advantage.
While a 19-point, 8-rebound stat line would work just fine for the vast majority of NBA players, LeBron turned in a mediocre output for himself personally during the six-point win. Pau Gasol led the short-handed Lakers with 13 points and 13 rebounds but his team fell to 13-16 on the season with a loss to Miami.
“I knew we would get a good game out of them, and I think the NBA wanted a good game,” LeBron said following the win. “But it’s not as special when Kobe’s not out there.”
2014: Cleveland Cavaliers (17-10) at Miami Heat (13-16)
Marquee Opponent: Dwyane Wade
Score: Miami wins 101-91
LeBron Stats: 30 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds
On Christmas Day 2014, King James rocked “LeBron” on the back of his nickname jersey as the Cleveland Cavaliers collided with his former team, the Miami Heat. With James back in Cleveland, the Cavaliers were on the verge of eventually securing their first NBA championship in franchise history. But this particular game wouldn’t go the way they hoped.
Despite 30 points and eight assists from LeBron, the Cavs would drop this high-profile matchup by 10 points to Dwyane Wade and the Heat. Wade led the way for Miami with 31 points, five rebounds and five assists in the victory. The Cavaliers got 25 points from Kyrie Irving in defeat.
“Couple of the best in this generation,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said about the James vs. Wade after the 2014 showdown on Christmas. “Spectacular. I wish I could sit back and enjoy it like a fan, because it’s just fantastic basketball.”
2015: Cleveland Cavaliers (19-7) at Golden State Warriors (27-1)
Marquee Opponent: Stephen Curry
Score: Warriors win 89-83
LeBron Stats: 25 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
The third NBA Finals rematch that LeBron competed in on Christmas came against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in 2015. James would turn in a stat-line that read 25 points and nine rebounds but he struggled to get his all-world game going during critical moments of the contest.
Draymond Green applied solid pressure on James defensively while Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combined for only 23 points. Curry countered with 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Draymond led the way toward a six-point Golden State victory with 22 points, 15 boards and seven dimes. LeBron and the Cavs would eventually get the last laugh, however, by coming back from down 3-1 in the NBA Finals to win the title later that season.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” James said following the loss. “If we play like that defensively, we’re going to be a very tough team to beat. Offensively, we just didn’t have it.”
2016: Golden State Warriors (27-4) at Cleveland Cavaliers (22-6)
Marquee Opponent: Kevin Durant
Score: Cleveland wins 109-108
LeBron Stats: 31 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists
The most hotly-contested Christmas Day game of LeBron’s career came in 2016 during a one-point victory over the Golden State Warriors. While defending their NBA championship against a Warriors team who had reloaded by adding Kevin Durant in the offseason, Cleveland came back from seven points down in the final period to earn an entertaining win.
Kyrie Irving hit the deciding shot with three seconds remaining to finalize the outcome and earned praise from LeBron after the game. James offered a monster night in the box score in support of Irving’s heroics with 31 points and 13 rebounds to go along with four assists. Durant led all scorers with 36 points for Golden State to go along with 15 rebounds.
“The kid is special,” LeBron said of Kyrie’s game-winning shot on Christmas Day. “It was never in doubt.”
2017: Cleveland Cavaliers (24-9) at Golden State Warriors (26-7)
Marquee Opponent: Kevin Durant
Score: Golden State wins 99-92
LeBron Stats: 20 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds
During his last Christmas Day game as a Cleveland Cavalier in 2017, LeBron James met Kevin Durant for the third time under the NBA’s regular season marquee. While playing without Stephen Curry, Durant and the Warriors would earn a seven-point victory in the NBA Finals rematch.
LeBron had 20 points, six assists and six rebounds in the game but turned it over seven times. Kevin Love led all scorers with 31 points and 18 rebounds. Durant scored 25 and Klay Thompson dropped 24 to the delight of the hometown crowd who were gifted a Dubs win on Christmas Day.
“There’s just so much joy in the arena today because it’s Christmas and we all feed off of that,” Durant said following the win.
2018: Los Angeles Lakers (19-14) at Golden State Warriors (23-11)
Marquee Opponent: Kevin Durant
Score: Lakers win 127-101
LeBron Stats: 17 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists
It was all good in Los Angeles last season while LeBron and the Lakers were cruising to a 26-point victory over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas. The win would be the biggest margin that LeBron has ever won by on Santa’s big day and the outcome improved L.A.’s record to 20-14. Kyle Kuzma paced the Lakers with 19 points to go along with six rebounds in the victory.
But despite finishing with a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double, LeBron would miss the next 17 games with a groin injury he suffered in the game and Los Angeles would fall out of contention as a result. The narrative of the washed king would soon be born from the chaos that ensued.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” LeBron said of always being healthy enough to play afterwards. “That’s why it (angered me) not to be able to go back into the game. It’s more than anything being available to my teammates, being available to my coaching staff. That’s something I take more personal than anything. Hopefully it’s not a long thing.”
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