A hundred and some points behind James is the late Kobe Bryant, who scored 395 points on Dec. 25 games by the end of his NBA career. Bryant is also firmly in the games played leaderboards with 16 holiday classics. His highlight was a 2004 42-point game against the Heat that culminated in a 104-102 overtime loss.

LeBron James has played in and won more Christmas Day games than any other player in NBA history. Editor’s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has a strong opinion about playing an NBA game against the Rockets on Christmas Day.

“The NFL got greedy and started adding Christmas games,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA. “We used to have this day to ourselves, but Roger Goodell and them pigs at the NFL always want to hog every day of the week now. Christmas is an NBA day.”

Kevin Durant and LeBron James will square off on Thursday in one of the most highly anticipated Christmas Day showdowns this season.

NBA fans will be gifted a classic LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant matchup on Christmas, as the Houston Rockets (17-10) travel out west to take on the Los Angeles Lakers (19-9). Both teams rank in the top 10 of overall offensive scoring. LA’s dynamite backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has boosted their offensive rating to 117.8.

The Rockets and Lakers meet for a Christmas Day tilt. Check our NBA odds series for the Rockets-Lakers prediction and pick.

After having dipped its toes in the Christmas waters last season with two games, the NFL is wading deeper into the pool this year with three games Thursday.