LeBron James has just finished playing in his 17th Christmas day game in the NBA. He played against the Dallas Mavericks, a team that is headlined by a man who many consider to be ‘Baby LeBron’ given the way he plays the game of basketball.
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After getting out to a 17-6 lead over the Mavericks, the Lakers would slowly have this lead chipped away at before they would actually begin to trail the Mavs. Dallas made history tonight as well as they dropped a whopping 51 points in the 3rd quarter of the game. This is the most points by a team in a single quarter in Christmas Day history.
Doncic led the way as he dropped 32 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists. LeBron James had himself a night as well as he had 38 points en route to a 9-point loss.
LeBron James receives flack for praising Dirk Nowitzki
Following the loss, LeBron James lamented on what Dirk Nowitzki’s legacy was as a former player in the NBA. Aside from tonight being a showdown between James and Doncic, it was also unveiling night for the statue of Dirk outside of the American Airlines Center.
In his media availability, LeBron admitted that Dirk is the greatest international player to have ever played in the league. He would also put Manu Ginobili up there along with him. However, this didn’t go over too well with NBA fans as they feel Hakeem Olajuwon was disrespected.
Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Lagos, Nigeria, making him an international player despite playing collegiate basketball in Houston. And yes, Hakeem is a top 12 player in the history of the NBA and for most, will be higher than the German Hall-of-Famer on their all-time rankings.
LeBron James witnessed Dirk’s greatness firsthand
If there’s one man in the history of the NBA that can vouch for how great Dirk Nowitzki is, it’s LeBron James. James’s lackluster performances in the 2011 NBA Finals coupled with Dirk’s transcendental performances during that same series is what led to the Mavericks earning their sole NBA title.
The eventual Finals MVP averaged 26 points and 9.7 rebounds a game in their 4-2 victory while LeBron couldn’t even crack 20 ppg throughout the bout.
