Ranking the 5 best LeBron James Christmas Day performances

3. 2016 finals rematch against the Warriors

The 2016 Christmas Day game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors is widely considered to be the best Christmas Day game ever. The Warriors and the Cavaliers had faced off in the past two NBA Finals in 2015 and 2016. The Warriors beat an injured Cavaliers team, that didn't have their second and third-best player in the 2015 NBA Finals. Then, when everyone was healthy in 2016, the Warriors blew a 3-1 series lead to the Cavaliers, in what is regarded as the greatest comeback ever against a team that had the best record in NBA history at 73-3. Then in the offseason, the team that won 73 games, added Kevin Durant to their roster.

The anticipation of this game was at an all-time high seeing whether the Cavaliers could compete with this team. When Durant joined this roster, there were, and still are, conversations of the 2016-17 Warriors being the greatest team ever.

In this game, the Cavaliers would prove that there is a chance they could beat this team in the NBA Finals. LeBron showed up big in this game. He had 31 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block and shot 12-for-22 from the field, 4-for-8 from 3, and 3-for-7 from the free throw line. This included two thunderous dunks to help the Cavaliers come back after being down 14 in the fourth quarter.

The reason this performance ranks just third on LeBron's best Christmas Day performances has a lot to do with his teammate Kyrie Irving. In the fourth quarter, Irving scored 14 points to LeBron's four, and had the game-winning shot. Irving has gotten most of the credit, for winning this game that overshadows LeBron's performance and why it ranks third.