LeBron James Scheduled for 18th Consecutive Christmas Day Game

December 25, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward 

LeBron James (23) during the fourth quarter in a NBA basketball game 

on Christmas against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. 

The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 89-83. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

https://www.si.com/nba/lebron-james-scheduled-18th-consecutive-christmas-day-game

LeBron James Scheduled for 18th Consecutive Christmas Day Game

It's his 19th overall. Seriously.

Stephen Douglas | Aug 16, 2024 

The NBA released the full 2024-2025 schedule on Thursday, meaning fans now know exactly what games they'll be able to watch on Christmas this year. To the surprise of no one, the Los Angeles Lakers are involved. The Lakers will travel to San Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors in the primetime game at 8 p.m. ET. For at least one person, that totally stinks.

That one person is LeBron James. We know it stinks for the NBA's all-time leading scorer because he told us how much it stinks way back in 2015 as the Cleveland Cavaliers were getting ready to play on the road against the Golden State Warriors. Via ESPN:

"I won’t be with my family on Christmas, unfortunately. ... They’re not even here [in Ohio] right now. They’re in L.A. right now, actually. So, no, we have no traditions. If I can get a home game on Christmas, then we’ll have a tradition.”

Unfortunately for LeBron, he is a Christmas tradition.

This will be his 19th Christmas playing NBA basketball. Between the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James's teams have played on 17 consecutive Christmases. This will be the 18th straight year LeBron has been on television playing professional basketball on Christmas.

Here's a chart to put it in perspective.

Year    Team    Opponent    Home or Away    Opened presents under the tree at home on Christmas morning?

2003    Cleveland Cavaliers    Orlando Magic              Away    NO
2007    Cleveland Cavaliers    Miami Heat                   Home    Yes
2008    Cleveland Cavaliers    Washington Wizards     Home    Yes
2009    Cleveland Cavaliers   LA Lakers                   Away    NO
2010    Miami Heat                LA Lakers                    Away    NO
2011    Miami Heat                Dallas Mavericks            Away    NO
2012    Miami Heat                OKC Thunder                Home    Yes
2013    Miami Heat                LA Lakers                    Away    NO
2014    Cleveland Cavaliers    Miami Heat                    Away    Probably
2015    Cleveland Cavaliers    Golden State Warriors    Away    NO
2016    Cleveland Cavaliers    Golden State Warriors    Home    Yes
2017    Cleveland Cavaliers    Golden State Warriors    Away    NO
2018    LA Lakers    Golden State Warriors                    Away    NO
2019    LA Lakers                LA Clippers                    Home    Yes
2020    LA Lakers                Dallas Mavericks            Home    Yes
2021    LA Lakers                Brooklyn Nets                Home    Yes
2022    LA Lakers                Dallas Mavericks                Away    NO
2023    LA Lakers                Boston Celtics                Home    Yes
2024    LA Lakers                Golden State Warriors        Away    NO

This will be the 10th Christmas that LeBron wakes up in a hotel room. It's his 11th Christmas away game, but in 2014 the Cavs visited Miami after he left the Heat and he has a home there. It's also possible that he bought his first house in Los Angeles because the league kept sending him there over the holidays.

He's played for the Lakers or against the Lakers six times on Christmas. This will be his 11th Christmas in California despite the fact that he spent the first 15 years of his career playing in Cleveland and Miami.

The good news this year is that he might get to spend his entire day with his oldest son since the Lakers drafted Bronny James in the second round this year. If Bronny is with the Lakers, it will likely be the first time he'll get to spend his entire day with his dad since 2006 when he was two years old. If LeBron ends up playing the 2025-26 season and is scheduled for Christmas again, the Lakers would be smart to sign Bryce, Zhuri and Savannah to 10-day contracts. Considering his birthday is December 30th, it would be a nice gesture.

It's basically been two decades since basketball fans spent the holidays without LeBron James. When he finally does retire, there will be a crown-shaped hole in not just the NBA's schedule, but every sports fan's holiday season.

Published Aug 16, 2024|Modified Aug 16, 2024

STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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