Traditionally, the NBA has been the main sport on Christmas Day. However, this past year the NFL attempted to take over the NBA’s claim on the holiday. Lakers superstar LeBron James sent a message to the NFL following the Lakers’ electric 115-113 victory against Stephen Curry and the Warriors. However, a few weeks later, he backtracked on his claim, blaming Beyonce for the NFL’s holiday success.
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Former Eagles star Jason Kelce asked James about his thoughts on which league owns Christmas Day on the New Heights podcast. After receiving the information regarding the viewership numbers, LeBron’s tone changed. He said,
“I saw the f*****g numbers after the fact, you guys kicked our a**. From a viewership standpoint, y’all kicked our a**.”
LeBron could only point to one thing as an explanation for the NFL’s viewership victory. His answer was award-winning artist Beyonce’s performance:
“When you have f*****g Beyonce come out there, Pat Mahomes and Travis, you guys go there and kick Pittsburgh’s a**.”
Beyonce gave fans an electric halftime performance during the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens game. Regardless of the true reason, the numbers heavily favored the NFL.
In terms of the quality of games, the NFL didn’t stand a chance against the NBA. The NFL’s two Christmas games were the Kansas City Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens versus the Texans. Both games had the potential to be great, but ended in blowouts. However, that didn’t matter when it came to the numbers.
The NFL streamed their Christmas Day games on Netflix and attracted 65 million viewers. The NBA paled in comparison, drawing in just 5.25 million viewers. The discrepancy is surprising, since the NBA had five games in total, and all of them were competitive, down-to-the-wire matchups. As a result, LeBron believes the NBA had the better product, since the NFL games didn’t provide much entertainment value.
LeBron did his part on Christmas Day
The numbers might suggest the NFL won Christmas Day, but the public reception agrees with LeBron. Social media was in a frenzy following the amazing slate of games, especially after LeBron’s duel against Curry. Despite being in his 22nd season in the NBA, James still put forth a classic performance.
James gave fans flashes of his iconic performances against the Warriors during their constant matchups when he was a member of the Cavaliers. He finished the Christmas Day game with 31 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds on 54.5% shooting from the field. The game was capped off with a game-winning bucket by Lakers guard Austin Reaves.
Fueled by his adrenaline and elite performance, LeBron didn’t hesitate in his bold post-game claims. Although he can admit defeat in the battle regarding viewership, his belief that Christmas Day belongs to the NBA still remains.
