December 25, 2004
On this day in 2004, the NBA on Christmas Day was taken to a whole new level. The Miami Heat visited the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that had more hype than regular season NBA game in recent memory. Shaquille O'Neal had been traded from the Lakers to the Heat and he and Lakers star Kobe Bryant had a big rivalry going. Bryant scored 42 points in the game, but O'Neal and the Heat won 104-102.