{"id":370410,"date":"2025-12-25T06:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T06:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/370410\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T06:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T06:18:08","slug":"nba-fans-get-emotional-as-lebron-james-kevin-durant-set-to-make-history-on-christmas-might-be-one-of-the-last-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/370410\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Fans Get Emotional As LeBron James, Kevin Durant Set To Make History On Christmas: “Might Be One Of The Last Times”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lakers<\/a> are set to face the Rockets<\/a> on Christmas Day this season. This game marks LeBron James\u2019<\/a> 20th and Kevin Durant\u2019s<\/a> 13th appearance on December 25.<\/p>\n

While that itself is historic alone, this matchup will also become the game where two players facing each other will have the highest ever combined points in their NBA careers [73,630 points combined between these two players].<\/p>\n

Considering that both stars are nearing the imminent ends of their careers [James is turning 41 in less than a week and Durant is 37], NBA fans got emotional when they saw this on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMight be one of the last times we see this matchup of \ud83d\udc10s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo legends still delivering prime-time matchups! Seeing those jerseys side-by-side brings back so many memories. Expect a classic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeBron and KD really turned \u2018Christmas Day game\u2019 into a historical event tracker for how long we\u2019ve all been watching basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really getting LeBron vs KD on Christmas. Appreciate this while we still can \ud83c\udf84\u2728. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cLeBron vs KD on Christmas is the gift that keeps giving. NBA really knows how to schedule the perfect matchups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo legends, one stage. Can\u2019t wait to see this.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the NBA, this matchup signifies a clash of 73,630 points scored in the NBA. LeBron James scored 42,429, and Kevin Durant has 31,201 of those points. James is currently first on the list of All-time scorers, while Durant is eighth.<\/p>\n

The Lakers forward is currently 4,042 points ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/a> (38,387 career points), who is in second place. In all the potential matchups that James or Durant had with others between them on the list will not sum up to as many points scored. Be it Kareem Abdul-Jabbar\u2019s last game with Karl Malone<\/a> or Michael Jordan<\/a> in 1989, or James\u2019 last matchup with Kobe Bryant<\/a> or Dirk Nowitzki<\/a> nearly a decade ago in 2016.<\/p>\n

While James admitted he would rather sit at home on Christmas<\/a>, Kevin Durant was a lot more fired up to play on December 25. During the loss against the Clippers<\/a> recently, the Rockets\u2019 star spoke to the media and said he was excited to face the Lakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive [times]? Oh, well, s**t,\u201d said Durant on how many times he and James have faced each other on Christmas to the Houston Chronicle\u2019s Michael Shapiro<\/a> before the Clippers game.<\/p>\n

James and Durant have faced each other four times on Christmas Day before this matchup. The 40-year-old Lakers forward leads that Christmas Day matchup with a 3-1 record, most recently having faced each other in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the main culprit I\u2019ve seen for the last 20 years,\u201d Durant said of James, having played in 19 seasons on Christmas Day. \u201cI\u2019m just grateful to still be here playing my game and playing for a team people want to see on Christmas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a certain level of pride you take in being selected to play on Christmas,\u201d Durant said. \u201c[Facing LeBron], it\u2019s always been pressure-packed, it\u2019s energetic. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust grateful to be a part of this league. This is what, my 12th one? [It is his 13th.] Each one feels like the first one. To be in LA, a place where I spend a lot of time, a historical franchise you\u2019re playing against the Lakers, I can\u2019t wait,\u201d said<\/a> Durant after the game.<\/p>\n

This will be the first time Durant has faced James since joining the Rockets.\u00a0The Lakers veteran is leading their all-time head-to-head record 24-19. While James leads 19-10 in the regular season, Durant has a 9-5 advantage in the postseason.<\/p>\n

This could, in fact, be one of the last times we see this duo face off on Christmas. It will be interesting to see which way the record books swing when all is said and done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lakers are set to face the Rockets on Christmas Day this season. This game marks LeBron James\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-370410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}