LeBron James Scheduled for 18th Consecutive Christmas Day Game

It's his 19th overall. Seriously.

December 25, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the fourth quarter in a NBA basketball game on Christmas against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 89-83. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA released the full 2024-2025 schedule on Thursday, meaning fans now know exactly what games they'll be able to watch on Christmas this year. To the surprise of no one, the Los Angeles Lakers are involved. The Lakers will travel to San Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors in the primetime game at 8 p.m. ET. For at least one person, that totally stinks.

That one person is LeBron James. We know it stinks for the NBA's all-time leading scorer because he told us how much it stinks way back in 2015 as the Cleveland Cavaliers were getting ready to play on the road against the Golden State Warriors. Via ESPN:

"I won’t be with my family on Christmas, unfortunately. ... They’re not even here [in Ohio] right now. They’re in L.A. right now, actually. So, no, we have no traditions. If I can get a home game on Christmas, then we’ll have a tradition.”

Unfortunately for LeBron, he is a Christmas tradition.

This will be his 19th Christmas playing NBA basketball. Between the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James's teams have played on 17 consecutive Christmases. This will be the 18th straight year LeBron has been on television playing professional basketball on Christmas.

Here's a chart to put it in perspective.

Year	LeBron's Team	Opponent	Home or Away	Opened presents under the tree at home on Christmas morning?
2003	Cleveland Cavaliers	Orlando Magic	Away	NO
2007	Cleveland Cavaliers	Miami Heat	Home	Yes
2008	Cleveland Cavaliers	Washington Wizards	Home	Yes
2009	Cleveland Cavaliers	LA Lakers	Away	NO
2010	Miami Heat	LA Lakers	Away	NO
2011	Miami Heat	Dallas Mavericks	Away	NO
2012	Miami Heat	OKC Thunder	Home	Yes
2013	Miami Heat	LA Lakers	Away	NO
2014	Cleveland Cavaliers	Miami Heat	Away	Probably
2015	Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors	Away	NO
2016	Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors	Home	Yes
2017	Cleveland Cavaliers	Golden State Warriors	Away	NO
2018	LA Lakers	Golden State Warriors	Away	NO
2019	LA Lakers	LA Clippers	Home	Yes
2020	LA Lakers	Dallas Mavericks	Home	Yes
2021	LA Lakers	Brooklyn Nets	Home	Yes
2022	LA Lakers	Dallas Mavericks	Away	NO
2023	LA Lakers	Boston Celtics	Home	Yes
2024	LA Lakers	Golden State Warriors	Away	NO

This will be the 10th Christmas that LeBron wakes up in a hotel room. It's his 11th Christmas away game, but in 2014 the Cavs visited Miami after he left the Heat and he has a home there. It's also possible that he bought his first house in Los Angeles because the league kept sending him there over the holidays.

He's played for the Lakers or against the Lakers six times on Christmas. This will be his 11th Christmas in California despite the fact that he spent the first 15 years of his career playing in Cleveland and Miami.

The good news this year is that he might get to spend his entire day with his oldest son since the Lakers drafted Bronny James in the second round this year. If Bronny is with the Lakers, it will likely be the first time he'll get to spend his entire day with his dad since 2006 when he was two years old. If LeBron ends up playing the 2025-26 season and is scheduled for Christmas again, the Lakers would be smart to sign Bryce, Zhuri and Savannah to 10-day contracts. Considering his birthday is December 30th, it would be a nice gesture.

It's basically been two decades since basketball fans spent the holidays without LeBron James. When he finally does retire, there will be a crown-shaped hole in not just the NBA's schedule, but every sports fan's holiday season.