The Lakers will face off against a familiar face for their Christmas Day matchup.
The franchise will play against the 76ers on Dec. 25 at Crypto.com Arena – the team superstar forward LeBron James left the Lakers for last month as a free agent.
It’ll be James’ lone visit to Crypto.com Arena as an opposing player during the 2026-27 season after spending eight seasons with the franchise.
The matchup will tip off at 2 p.m. PT, with ABC (Ch. 7) and ESPN televising every Christmas Day game.
The Lakers have played on Christmas every year since 1999, and have played the second-most games on the holiday (52) behind the Knicks (58).
James (20) has appeared in the most Christmas Day games. The league’s all-time leading scorer has also scored the most points on Christmas.
The NBA announced the league’s Christmas Day slate as part of a release of marquee games.
The five-game Christmas schedule will also feature the Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals rematch at Madison Square Garden, the Celtics hosting Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Heat, the Timberwolves hosting the Thunder and the Warriors hosting the Nuggets.
The league will release the NBA Cup Group Play schedule on Wednesday before announcing the entire schedule at noon on Thursday.
As part of the announcements on Tuesday, it was revealed that the Lakers will host the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 21 in both team’s season opener as part of ESPN’s opening-week doubleheader on the second day of the regular season.
