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.

The NBA is in big trouble, regardless of what LeBron James might think.

The NBA got viewers for Christmas, even while going up against NFL games. The NBA’s five-game Christmas lineup was the league’s most-watched in five years, with the games averaging about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC,

The NBA has long dominated Christmas, just as Thanksgiving has become synonymous with football, but viewers got the best of both worlds on Wednesday.

For decades, Christmas has been one of the biggest days of the year for the NBA, and the rest of the American sports landscape has taken a step back on the country's biggest holiday.

Recently, the National Football League decided to go head-to-head with the National Basketball Association on Christmas Day. It's become a sports turf war of sorts.

The NBA’s lineup saw an 84 percent rise over 2023. The NFL’s Christmas numbers decreased from last season, but not at the rate that usually happens when something goes from broadcast to streaming.

The NBA can really only respond by putting out a good product. The Christmas teams obliged for the most part this year, with the Lakers overcoming a game-tying 3-pointer from Stephen Curry with eight seconds left, getting the win on an Austin Reaves layup. James finished with 31 points and 10 assists.

LeBron James and the NBA will have to make room for the NFL on Christmas. That shouldn’t be a problem. Both leagues were winners on Wednesday.