LeBron James issues Christmas Day complaint for NBA

Apr 4, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) reacts to being called for a foul against the Utah Jazz in the last minute of the fourth quarter at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James is not quite feeling the same holiday cheer this year.

The Los Angeles Lakers star James took to X on Wednesday to issue a Christmas complaint. James is about to play in his 18th consecutive Christmas Day game when the Lakers play the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday evening.

“Not having Xmas day unis anymore really sucks!” James wrote. “That was a great feeling walking into the locker room and seeing those. It was literally like receiving a [gift emoji]! Whomp whomp!”

Not having Xmas day unis anymore really sucks! That was a great feeling walking into the locker room and seeing those. It was literally like receiving a! Whomp whomp!

— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 25, 2024

Beginning in 2008, the NBA had snowflake-patch variants on their jerseys for Christmas Day and then graduated in 2012 to all-out special-edition Christmas Day jerseys. But the blame for their departure actually lies with James’ sponsor Nike. ESPN notes that Nike took over the NBA’s uniform contract from Adidas in 2017 and decided not to keep the Christmas Day uniform tradition (though Nike still produces several other special-edition jerseys for NBA teams throughout the year).

While the special Christmas Day jerseys were an objectively cool tradition for the fans, there is probably no satisfying James here. Back when those Christmas jerseys were still around, James was among the NBA stars who were complaining about how they felt.