Kobe Bryant takes jab at Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler over Lakers-Knicks Christmas game

Kobe Bryant is already taking jabs at Carmelo Anthony over the Lakers' Christmas game with the Knicks. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant's pursuit for Gold this summer with Olympic teammates Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks doesn't make him feel precluded from talking a little trash about the match-up his Los Angeles Lakers have scheduled with the Knicks on Christmas Day.

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, Bryant thinks this Christmas could be the end of a drought for the Lakers:

“We actually might win on Christmas Day for the first time ever,” Bryant says.

Bryant isn't entirely correct. The last time the Lakers won on Christmas was in 2008 in a 92-83 victory over the rival Boston Celtics. The Lakers ended the Celtics' 19-game winning streak and went on to defeat Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals. Since 2008, the Lakers have lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 when LeBron James was on the team, the following year in 2010 against James and his Miami Heat and then again in a loss in 2011 on Christmas Day against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.

The Lakers game this year against the Knicks will be a match-up of two new backcourts. New York saw the return of Raymond Felton this offseason and signed veteran Jason Kidd while the Lakers signed two-time MVP Steve Nash in July.