Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has come under a little bit of fire for his recent comments about playing on Christmas Day. The Lakers’ clash with the Houston Rockets on Thursday will mark the 20th time that James has played on Dec. 25 in the NBA, but he admitted he’d rather be at home with his family instead.
While James did also mention it’s an honor to get to play, the comments didn’t go down too well in some corners. The 40-year-old’s agent, Rich Paul, was asked about the comment and the reaction to it on his Game Over podcast, and he came to his client’s defense by bringing up Michael Jordan.
“What I also saw him say was, ‘I’m looking forward to it,'” Paul said. “People skip over that. And he also said that it’s something that he’s honored to be able to do. But if you asked me what I would rather do, yeah, I would rather be with my family, just like anybody else would rather be with their family.
“But the problem I got with that is,” Paul continued. “If that was anybody else that said that in that capacity, it would’ve been (shrugs). 10 years from now you’ll play that tape on somebody, or you’ll see MJ say that to Ahmad Rashad, (shrugs). And people would be like (shrugs).”
Paul did acknowledge that most of the reactions he saw to the comments were positive. Many fans were understanding of James’ perspective, but some of his critics will always find a way to rip him.
As for Paul saying no one would have particularly minded if Jordan had said this, that might be true. Then again, it’s hard to picture the Chicago Bulls icon ever saying anything along these lines. All we’ve ever heard Jordan talk about over the years is how much he loves basketball and how he wanted to play whenever he could.
Jordan only played six Christmas Day games in his career (5-1 record), though, which might surprise some. He excelled when given the opportunity, averaging 28.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.
As for James, he has put up 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game on Dec. 25 over the years. He will be in search of his 12th win when the Lakers take on the Rockets.
