Following an exciting Christmas Day defeat of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James sent a clear message to the NFL about holiday game scheduling.
James’ team has won 4 of their last 5 games, and he must be feeling it a bit, despite a rocky early season start and a brief hiatus from the team for feeling “gassed.”
James, who had a standout performance with 31 points and 10 assists, emphasized that Christmas is traditionally the NBA’s day, despite the NFL’s recent push to schedule games on this holiday.
“I love the NFL. I love the NFL. But Christmas is our day,” James told ESPN reporter Lisa Salters following the game.
LeBron to the NFL: pic.twitter.com/6rvo5OncTt
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 26, 2024
LeBron James Calling Out The NFL
First off, Christmas is neither the NBA nor the NFL’s day. It’s Christmas. It’s kind of a significant day in which sports are background noise while families celebrate the birth of Jesus and spend time with their families.
That said, listening to LeBron James take a territorial shot at a league whose ratings are off the charts compared to the NBA is hilarious.
Shut up and dribble, dude. Or flop, or whatever it is you do.
The NBA needs to worry about their own major, major issues – everybody in the league chucking up threes, the biggest star being a serial flopper, terrible officiating, and boring play with no defense in sight – before they go challenging the NFL to a duel.
There’s been a noted decline in the NBA’s ratings, with some sources reporting a 19% drop from the previous year through mid-December 2024, swelling to 25% when including NBA TV.
It’s so bad that Joe Mazzulla, the head coach of the reigning league champion Boston Celtics, says he doesn’t even sit down to watch games in his spare time.
“I don’t like watching the games,” Mazzulla said.
RELATED: Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Trashes NBA Amidst Ratings Slump: ‘Rather Watch Something Else’
NFL Probably Not Worried
The NFL has been expanding its Christmas presence, with Netflix broadcasting two games this year, but LeBron James clearly isn’t a fan of this encroachment.
The Netflix experience was a mix of high demand, star-studded performances, and technical challenges.
The streaming service successfully broadcast two marquee NFL games, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans.
They even delivered a halftime performance by Beyoncé during the latter game.
Despite some minor technical hiccups, like audio issues during the pregame show and brief display errors, Netflix managed to get through the production with far fewer issues than they experienced with the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight.
James, meanwhile, has his own issues. He took time off from the Lakers during a terrible shooting slump earlier this month, left social media because of the negativity, and recent reports have also revealed that his media and entertainment company lost nearly $30 million.
More about:NBA News
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