The NBA reclaimed its Christmas Day throne from the NFL

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you.

LeBron James doesn’t usually give us any interesting tidbits in postgame interviews. But he had something to say on Christmas that I’m sure caught the ears of executives across the sports world.

LeBron James declares war: “I love the NFL but Christmas is our day”

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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) December 25, 2024 at 11:17 PM

“I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” he confidently told cameras after pulling out a clutch win against the Warriors.

That ain’t just trash talk, folks. LeBron was sending a message there. And I’m sure the league offices hear it loud and clear.

The Christmas Day sports calendar has been a battleground over these last few years. The NFL has gone out of its way to ensure it has some Christmas Day programming through the years despite it traditionally being the NBA’s tentpole day.

This year, the NFL went all out. It featured its game on Netflix. It got Beyoncé to do an (ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL) halftime show. It brought marquee matchups to the table, headlined by the Chiefs and the Ravens in separate games to buoy each matchup.

Considering all that, the conversation around the 2024 Christmas Day battle between these two leagues has been relatively one-sided.

Most people were opting to watch the NFL because, well, of course, they were. It’s the NFL! We’ve been conditioned to believe that whenever a football game is on, we must watch it. No matter what sort of football game it is.

That will likely be reflected in people’s inevitable ratings conversation about Christmas Day. Netflix’s streaming numbers are probably going to be bonkers.

But, guys, let’s be honest about this. The football sucked.

The most interesting thing from the Chiefs game was Travis Kelce’s Tony Gonzalez tribute. Kansas City whooped the Steelers like they stole something.

Speaking of whoopins, Ravens-Texans wasn’t competitive at all. The only thing I was concerned with by the end of the game was if the 31-2 score was an NFL Scorigami (which it sadly wasn’t).

In a bit of a twist, the NBA had the more compelling action on Wednesday.

Everyone (including myself) complained about how the NBA’s Christmas slate catered too deeply to big names and big markets. Four of the six top seeds in the league weren’t playing on the league’s biggest day.

Today, it’s all clear we need to shut up. Because whoever put that schedule together absolutely did their job.

Competitive matchups were littered throughout the NBA’s Christmas Day slate. We got dueling 40-point performances in Madison Square Garden between Victor Wembanyama and Mikal Bridges. We got another Steph vs. Bron classic. We got the 76ers pulling a tough one out against Jayson Tatum and the Celtics. We got a defining Anthony Edwards Christmas Day performance we’ll be talking about for years to come.

It was perfect and far more interesting than what was happening in its rival league on the same day. The only question is whether people were actually tuning in. Good money says probably not—even if folks wanted to tune out of the NFL’s action, Beyoncé’s presence at halftime was probably more than enough to keep them hooked.

But no matter what picture the streaming numbers paint or what any analyst wants to tell you, the NBA just put out a far more compelling Christmas Day product than the NFL did.

Next time someone wants to tell you that the NBA’s Christmas Day run is over or that the league is broken, remind them of that.

Lamar Jackson, the GOAT

There was one good thing to come out of the subpar Wednesday football we got on Christmas. Lamar Jackson cemented his status as the best rushing QB ever.

The Ravens quarterback broke Michael Vick’s all-time rushing record for quarterbacks (6,109) after his 87-yard rushing performance against the Texans.

After Jackson broke the record, the Ravens got Derrick Henry (!!!!!) to narrate a tribute to his QB’s awesomeness.

https://twitter.com/Ravens/status/1872098298208620668

Just a GOAT giving props to a GOAT. Love to see it.

The Jimmy Butler did it

Sort of lost in the Christmas Day mayhem was the fact that Jimmy Butler has reportedly requested a trade from the Heat, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Not only that, but there are also apparently destinations attached to this request. Butler is reportedly interested in being dealt to the Warriors, the Suns, the Rockets or the Mavericks.

Considering Butler’s agent denied incredibly similar reporting from Charania just a few weeks ago, let’s take this with a grain of salt.

With that in mind, though, Charania reports that the Heat have not shown any urgency in getting this done. If it doesn’t happen, will we get another Timberwolves explosion from Butler? Probably not.

It won’t be easy to trade for Butler, considering how close the Heat are to the NBA’s second tax apron and how expensive his contract is. But this is an interesting wrinkle for the NBA season, and it certainly could drastically alter the playoff picture. 

Buckle in, people. We’re in for a wild ride.

Quick hits: Beyoncé did that … The weird Disney Alt-Cast … and more

— Do yourself a favor and watch Beyoncé’s entire performance on Netflix. It was spectacular. Caroline Darney has more.

— Fans roasted the NBA’s Disney-themed Christmas alt-cast. Deservedly so. This was hilariously weird. Mitch Northam has more.

— Andy Reid dressing as Santa Claus gets an auto-link here in the Morning Win. We love this.

— LeBron James and Steph Curry’s best buds era is so fun. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance is going to have a tough time measuring up to Beyoncé on Christmas Day.

— Here are the six most watchable non-CFP games coming up from Mitch.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays.

-Sykes