Ranking NBA Christmas Day performances: Where does Luka Doncic's 50-point game rank?

Even though the Dallas Mavericks lost in bittersweet fashion last night to the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 113-110, the Mavericks had come off one of their more thrilling victories of the season just a game before. Just three nights ago, Luka Doncic dropped off the Phoenix Suns on Christmas day with an astounding stat line of 50 points, 15 assists, six rebounds, four blocks, and three steals.

The game was significant for a variety of reasons, including the developing rivalry between Doncic and Booker that first started in the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Doncic certainly got the better of Booker once again, as Booker only finished with 20 points off of 6-14 shooting from the field in 40 minutes of playing time.

Doncic's Christmas Day performance was dominant in all facets, and it was likely his best defensive game of the season as well. Doncic is showing that he completely owns the Phoenix Suns and his Christmas Day performance epitomized that, but have there been better Christmas Day performances in NBA history?

Ranking NBA Christmas Day performances: Where does Luka Doncic's 50-point game rank?

There certainly have been some other-worldly performances on Christmas day in the NBA, but Doncic's stat-line coupled with the budding Mavs-Suns rivalry certainly puts his performance amongst some of the best.

Nonetheless, here are the top five Christmas day performances in NBA history, as well as how Doncic's performance compares to them.

5. Rick Barry - 1966

Rick Barry and Luka Doncic both have something heavily in common, that is that both players make scoring an insane amount of points look pretty easy. Both players have unorthodox play styles as well, though Doncic differs a lot from Barry in the way he operates offensively.

Both players also scored 50 points on a Christmas day game, but context shouldn't be left out of the equation here. Barry is an undisputed basketball legend and Hall of Fame inductee, but he scored 50 points on a Christmas Day game in 1966. As a matter of fact, there isn't even any footage of the contest available online, and it's safe to say the quality of NBA basketball has improved tenfold in nearly all facets since Barry's Christmas Day performance in 1966.

However, this isn't to undermine the significance of how good Barry was as a player, as the 6-foot-7 forward is one of only four players to ever even scrape the 50-point mark on Christmas day. Barry was a master in the mid-range, was a prolific cutter, and a very dynamic player in the post.

Doncic is arguably already a better player than Barry ever was nonetheless, but Barry's performance on Christmas Day is still good enough to fall within the top five of the greatest individual performances on Christmas Day in NBA history.

4. Nikola Jokic - 2022

Ironically enough, the Phoenix Suns appeared on the losing side of one of the better Christmas Day performances in NBA history last year as well. On Christmas Day in 2022, Nikola Jokic put up 41 points, 15 assists, and 15 rebounds in a 128-125 overtime victory for the Denver Nuggets.

Much like his Baltic companion in Doncic, Jokic controlled the game in all areas, even if it was from the center position and not the point guard position in Doncic's case. Jokic had much more help than Doncic as the Nuggets went on to win the NBA Finals this past year, but that's not to discredit his performance whatsoever.

Jokic out-played Deandre Ayton all night, and he championed a comeback late in the game just as Doncic did against Phoenix the other night. Jokic may not have had the defensive impact that Doncic did against Phoenix, but he certainly got after it more on the glass.

Jokic played in one of the more extremely high-profile Christmas Day games in modern NBA memory, as the game featured some electrifying plays down the stretch before Denver ultimately won in overtime. However, Jokic simply didn't score enough to top the last three candidates on this list.

3. Wilt Chamberlain - 1961

Wilt Chamberlain's Christmas Day performance in 1961 was nothing short of amazing as the big man dropped 59 points and a Christmas Day record 36 rebounds. There's unfortunately no footage of the game just as was the case for Rick Barry's performance, but it doesn't take away from the overt statistical significance of Chamberlain's performance.

Chamberlain, who was playing for the San Francisco Warriors at the time, unfortunately lost the game as he didn't get much help from his teammates supposedly in a double-overtime loss to the New York Knicks. Chamberlain was playing in an era of basketball that was still developing in nature, and he had a clear physical advantage over almost everyone he played against at the time.

Despite how insane his statistics are, his team still lost the game and the competition that he was playing against isn't comparable to today's NBA whatsoever. That being said, Luka Doncic's performance on Christmas Day against Phoenix was much more significant than Chamberlain's for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't take away from how much of sheer force Chamberlain was at the time.

Chamberlain would likely still dominate in today's NBA when you take into account the changes made to the game that benefit players nowadays, but his Christmas Day performance in 1961 was still an absurd performance nonetheless. It's doubtful anyone will break his Christmas Day rebounding record for a very long time, but our next candidate certainly has the potential to score more than Chamberlain's 59 points on Christmas Day some time in the future.

2. Luka Doncic - 2023

As aforementioned, Luka Doncic's 50-point performance against the Phoenix Suns the other day was arguably the greatest Christmas Day performance ever. Doncic accomplished multiple statistical feats on the day, but his greatest one came when he hit an insanely deep 3-pointer to surpass 10,000 career points toward the tail end of the first quarter.

Doncic had one of his more dynamic performances as a Maverick by shooting 15-25 from the field and making all 12 of his free throws, and he helped Dallas outscore Phoenix 37-22 in the final period to put the game away in decisive fashion. Doncic got his teammates involved to a premium with 15 assists, and he served as the complete epicenter of the Mavericks' offense through all four quarters. Doncic is coming through in almost every clutch moment for Dallas this year, and he stepped up to the stage when the lights were the brightest as he continues to further his MVP campaign.

Doncic's Christmas Day performance was especially spectacular when you consider that he was on the road, and he likely would much rather spend time with his fiancee and new daughter on Christmas.

Doncic was able to carry the Mavericks to a win even though they've had multiple players out due to key injuries recently, and fellow Mavericks superstar Kyrie Irving was more excited than anyone for Doncic's performance.

Irving understands the significance of what Doncic was able to do because he's been in plenty of crazy Christmas Day games before. Irving also played with Kevin Durant who was on the other side of things for the Suns, so it must've made Irving awe-struck to see Doncic dominate Booker and Durant even though he wasn't able to play himself.

Doncic's Christmas Day performance is about as good as it gets, but the last candidate on our list went absolutely bonkers on Christmas Day.

1. Bernard King - 1984

As much as we would like to label Luka Doncic's performance as the greatest Christmas Day performance of all time, Bernard King unfortunately takes the top spot on this list of greatest Christmas Day performances of all time. King put up 60 points on 19-30 shooting for the New York Knicks on Christmas Day in 1984, and he finished with 40 points just after the first half.

The Knicks actually ended up losing the game 114-120 to the New Jersey Nets, but back in 1984 there was only one Christmas game played in the NBA across the whole league, so King was the sole center of attention at the time. King's 60 points also stood as the record for most points scored at Madison Square Garden until Kobe Bryant broke the record with 61 points in 2009.

Granted that Madison Square Garden is the mecca of basketball, King's performance holds the most significance on this list, and he scored 60 in a pretty competitive era that didn't feature the 3-point line near as much. King's performance certainly wasn't as prolific as Doncic's since he didn't contribute to the game in other facets besides scoring nearly as much as Doncic did during his Christmas Day performance, but scoring 60 on contested mid-range jumpers and tough layups all game is certainly no easy feat.

Perhaps Doncic will break King's record in a future Christmas Day game and will wield the title of "Best single-game performance on Christmas in NBA history", but for now we can appreciate just how much of an anomaly Doncic's Christmas Day performance was. For more on Doncic and everything else going on with the Dallas Mavericks, stay plugged in with us as we'll have you covered.