LeBron James led the Los Angeles Lakers to a standout 115-113 win over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day in a classic encounter where both he and Stephen Curry dominated. After the win, LeBron proclaimed that Christmas belongs to the NBA, a statement that the ratings didn’t agree with.
On the ‘New Heights’ podcast with retired NFL legend Jason Klece and his younger brother, Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce, James admitted that Christmas belongs to the NFL now.
“I saw the f***ing numbers after the fact. You guys kicked our ass. From a viewership standpoint, you kicked our ass. The games weren’t as good as they should be. You had Beyonce come out there. Pat Mahomes, and Travis went and kicked Pittsburgh’s ass. You know when you go out and you’re little brother gets beat up one time, you’re like, ‘We didn’t lose this fight!’ That’s how I feel. I had to stand up for the NBA.”
The NBA generated 5.25 million average viewers on Christmas, the most-viewed Christmas slate of games in five years for the league. However, the NFL generated 65 million US viewers across their offered games, comprehensively beating the best the NBA had to offer. Individual games like the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers averaged over 26 million viewers in the US.
The Beyonce halftime show James referred to received 27 million viewers during the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans.
The quality of games on both ends was also stark, as the NBA had five really good games on display while the NFL’s Christmas slate disappointed on the field. It didn’t matter to viewers, who still chose to tune in to the NFL in droves as compared to the NBA.
The NBA and NFL had a quiet harmony for years where the NBA held games on Christmas while the NFL held games on Thanksgiving. This changed a few years ago when the NFL introduced Christmas Games, directly hurting the NBA’s position as the sole major sports league with marquee games on offer.
With the NFL’s far greater popularity in the USA, the NBA has little hope of ever directly beating them in a ratings war. The NBA’s popularity internationally is arguably ten-fold, if not more, but American ratings will never reflect that.
LeBron James Gets Real On His Dreams of Playing In The NFL
LeBron was a multi-sport athlete growing up, with many believing he could have easily pursued the NFL if he wanted to instead of the NBA. He discussed how close he came to joining the NFL during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season.
“The only time I’ve really taken it super seriously was in 2011 during the NBA lockout… I’ve had serious dreams about this all the time, and in my dream, the ball is never kicked off. It’s like me in warm-ups, running routes, coming out of the tunnel. Then, right when the game starts, I wake up… It’s like, okay, yeah, that’s a sign—I’m not supposed to be out there. But, man, I’ve thought about it. During the lockout, I was like, ‘What if I just tried one year?’ But ultimately, I think it was just one of those what-if moments in life.”
James won his first NBA championship at the end of that season, so it’s a good thing he never wound up going to the NFL. Nonetheless, he maintains a great appreciation for the league and its status as the sport king within the USA.
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