Throughout his 15-year NBA career, LeBron James has been one of the constants for playing on Christmas Day.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers set to play the Golden State Warriors on Monday afternoon, James revealed that his favorite place to play during the holiday is none other than at Staples Center in Los Angeles, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
“I’ve had a lot of games that kind of stood out … playing in the Staples Center is always a treat,” James said Sunday, before the Cavs practiced in preparation for their Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors. “I’ve never had an opportunity to play in the Garden, but playing in the Staples Center, I’ve been there quite a few times. So, it’s kind of always fun to be in L.A. and play in front of that crowd and have that atmosphere.
“I’ve only had probably four games at home out of the 12 … but being in the Staples Center has always been pretty good.”
This will undoubtedly start up the conversations once again of James having interest in joining the Los Angeles Lakers next offseason if he does elect to hit the open market. However, this is just simply assessing where he had the most fun playing on the road on Christmas Day.
James is set to play for the 12th time overall on Christmas Day, which will also mark his eighth road game on the holiday. James has won all five of his Christmas Day games in Los Angeles (two with the Miami Heat, three with the Cleveland Cavaliers). In this five games, he’s averaged 26.2 points, eight rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent from downtown.
What may make Staples Center his favorite place to play on Christmas Day is the amount of success he has had in the arena. Beyond holding an undefeated record in such games, he also recorded a triple-double in 2010 with the Heat. He also threw down an alley-oop dunk from Dwyane Wade in 2013 that he calls one of his favorite Christmas Day moments.
If anything, this signals that James holds great appreciation for being able to play on Christmas Day and could be in store for another huge performance on Monday.