The ratings war has been a trendy topic in the sports world over the past few weeks, with the discourse surrounding the NBA revolving around how the league has made its product much more difficult to watch than it was in the past. And with the NBA on shaky ratings ground, the NFL had a huge opportunity to knock them even lower by putting out an exciting slate of games on Christmas Day. But under LeBron James' watch, he and Stephen Curry made sure to give fans a reason to be joyful during the holiday season in a barnburner of a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, which the former won 115-113 courtesy of an Austin Reaves game-winner.

Following the game, the Lakers star, who has been very vocal about how much he loves NFL and the sport of football in the past, drew battle lines and claimed that Christmas Day is the NBA's.

“I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” James said in his postgame interview on ESPN following the Lakers' win, via the official ClutchPoints account on X (formerly Twitter).

James is right in that the NBA has a longer Christmas Day tradition than the NFL. Since the NBA first started in 1946, there has only been one season in the league's history in which they did not hold games on Dec. 25, and that only occurred during the inaugural season.

Meanwhile, games on Christmas Day for the NFL have been on and off, although over the past five years, they have held games on the 25th of December. Of course, there is still the problem of the average NBA regular season game having less meaning in the grand scheme of the season than the average NFL game, but at the very least, the Lakers and Warriors showed that there are still plenty of moments of magic in a 1,230-game season.

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LeBron James and Stephen Curry may no longer be the rivals they once were, with both arriving at a place of mutual respect and love for one another after all their battles. But that has not prevented them from giving it their all every time they meet on the hardwood — with James and Curry putting on a show in the Lakers' thrilling 115-113 win over the Warriors on Christmas Day 2024.

Curry, in particular, had himself an epic final few minutes to try and rescue the Warriors from defeat. He made an incredible off-balanced three-pointer from the corner over the outstretched arms of James, and with the Dubs down three, 113-110, he made a bonkers triple from near the hash mark to tie the game. The Warriors star finished with 38 points on 14-24 shooting from the field, although it did end in a loss.

Meanwhile, James, despite ceding the controls to Austin Reaves in the final possession, tallied 31 points and 10 assists to lead the Lakers to victory sans Anthony Davis, who should be back soon despite suffering what looked like a concerning injury.