LeBron James playing on Christmas Day has essentially been an annual tradition over his storied career. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar has now played 15 times on Christmas, just one behind the late Kobe Bryant for the most all-time.
James now also ranks second behind Kobe for most points on Christmas Day as he surpassed Oscar Robertson during the Lakers’ 138-115 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
With so many games and moments on Christmas for LeBron it would be fair for these games to all start to run together and lose their meaning, but that is not the case just yet.
“I felt great. I woke up early this morning, we all have to do our NBA protocol testing, so I had to leave the house early to go test at our facility,” James said.
“I watched some of the early game, once the kids went off and played with their toys, I went back to the room and took a nap. I was excited when I woke up to get down to Staples and get ready to go.”
While James had a solid outing with 22 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, the most lasting image of the game was not necessarily a positive one. James hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line, but that one miss was a bad one as he airballed the attempt.
While many things could be blamed for the errant shot, one thing that James wouldn’t put the blame on was wine, which he previously joked he would be had to treat a mild left ankle sprain.
“I said the other night when I drink the wine goes straight down to the left side of my body,” James noted. “Tonight, I shot the free throw with my right hand, so it did not have bad side effects.
“I’m still going to drink some wine. If I can shoot it down the right side of my body, maybe it will help my free throws and give me a little bit more strength to where it doesn’t hit absolutely nothing. Maybe I need to drink upside down, vampire style. We’ll see.”
James sounds open to all wine options when it comes improving his free throw form to prevent another airball and after a positive game like the one against Dallas, he was happy to home and celebrate with some more.
“It’s been a very good day. Now I’m going to go home and be double-fisted, so I can not air ball a free throw in the next game,” he joked.
LeBron raves about Luka Doncic
The Lakers’ Christmas showdown with the Mavericks saw James square off with arguably the best young player in the NBA in Luka Doncic. The 21-year old made All-NBA First Team last season in just his second year and James was looking forward to the matchup.
“A great talent in our league, obviously,” James said the day before the game. “We’re looking forward to the challenge. Just being able to get out there and play on Christmas is always a treat, so look forward to the matchup.”
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