Lakers' Bronny James Reflects on LeBron Playing in Christmas NBA Games Growing Up

Growing up in an NBA family meant non-traditional Christmas mornings for Bronny James.

His father and now teammate, LeBron, has played on Christmas Day 19 times and 18 consecutive years. This year's contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets will mark 20 times the elder James has played on Christmas.

"You just tried to hope that game was home so we could have him home for Christmas," Bronny told ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "But we always go home to our house and open presents in the morning. If he's not there, then we'll wait or do it the day before. So, it's always been kind of like a coin flip. But we try to make it happen [on Christmas Day] as much as possible."

In his 19 games on Christmas Day, LeBron has managed to record the most points (507), second-most assists (137) and fifth-most rebounds (143), becoming a staple of NBA Christmas over the past two decades.

Bronny said that even though his father was always busy on Christmas, the family "always found a way to celebrate."

"I never really was bummed out [too much]," Bronny said. "I mean, I was, kind of, but I knew why. So it wasn't really a problem for me, and we always found a way to celebrate it somehow when he was back. But of course, every family wants to be together on Christmas. It was difficult sometimes. Especially for my mom [Savannah], just having to plan something else.

"… My siblings and my mom are always together on Christmas. But just having to plan something else to where we can all be together at the same time. It's just something extra that a lot of people don't got to deal with that. So it was definitely a little stressful on the whole family, but we made it happen."

Whether LeBron is away on a road trip for Christmas or at home in Los Angeles, Bronny said that his younger sister Zhuri is always the first one up.

"Zhuri will be up at 6 in the morning and already downstairs waiting for us," Bronny said. "We'll come down like an hour later, and she'll be mad that we're so late. Just sitting there staring at the presents."

LeBron's time playing on Christmas Day could come to an end soon, but planning festivities around basketball may not be over since Bronny will likely still be in the league.

"Time is about to come where I might be the one away and these guys are going to be home [without me]," Bronny said. "So, it's something that we got to figure out."