Lebron James has recently surpassed the great Kobe Bryant to become the new scoring king of the NBA. With 35,641 points, James has surpassed Bryant’s total of 33,643 points. This sets a new milestone in James’ already illustrious career, with many more years ahead to continue adding to his total. James has also surpassed Michael Jordan to become the fourth-highest scorer in NBA history. James also recently passed the 30,000-point mark for career points, becoming the fourth player in NBA history to do so. Despite being in his 17th season, James shows no signs of slowing down and is on pace to move up even further on the list.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James throws powder in the air before the team’s NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James throws powder in the air prior to the team’s NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday, February 7, 2023 in Los Angeles. Credit – Ashley Landis—AP
The historic number hasn’t etched itself into the minds of sports fans like baseball’s records have: Roger Maris’ 61 home runs in a season, for example, or Hank Aaron’s 755 for his career. In basketball circles, Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game scoring mark — a decent, round 100 points — is probably more appreciated.
Which makes sense: 38,387, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s longtime NBA record for career points scored, is so astronomically high that most people can’t really relate to it.
But that all-time scoring record still means so much. Beating your body year after year through a grueling 82-game regular-season and post-season schedule and continuing to rack up points against some of the best athletes in the world — all doing their best to outsmart you — counts as a tremendous athletic achievement . And that majestic mark now belongs to a new NBA scoring king.
Tuesday night in Los Angeles, LeBron James scored a 14-foot fadeaway jump over the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kenrich Williams in the third quarter with 11 seconds left for his 36th point of the game and 38,388. Point of his 20th year career and overtook Abdul-Jabbar on the league’s all-time scorer list.
The game has been stopped. James hugged his mother Gloria. A video tribute to James played on the jumbotron in the Crypto.com arena. Commissioner Adam Silver and Abdul-Jabbar joined James in Center Court. Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers tall, presented James with a ball. James began to cry as the crowd cheered. He thanked his family, his fans and the NBA. “I would never have dreamed of that in a million years [would be] even better than tonight,” he said. “Fk man thanks guys.”
The record-breaking moment was a reminder of everything James has achieved. No basketball player in history came to the pros with more hype. ESPN, for example, broadcast his high school games and Nike signed him to a $90 million contract when he was just 18 years old. Unlike so many athletic prodigies before him, James exceeded expectations. He has won four NBA titles with three different franchises, four league MVP awards and will soon be playing in his 19th All-Star Game.
James has played for three teams since his debut in 2003, including two stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers.AP; Getty Images (3)
And now this record. Regardless of whether you believe he’s the greatest basketball player in history — the contender list probably only consists of James and Michael Jordan at this point — he’s undeniably one of the most influential athletes of this century. In addition to his unmatched accomplishments on the pitch, he has also enjoyed success as a pitchman, businessman, film producer and social advocate.
Continue reading: TIME’s 2020 Athlete of the Year: LeBron James
And he’s not done yet. Abdul-Jabbar scored his last NBA basket after turning 42 in 1989. James just turned 38. On an age basis, LeBron reached the top of the points table faster than the other top five scorers in the NBA. Abdul-Jabbar (2nd), Karl Malone (3rd) and Michael Jordan (5th) scored their final buckets at 42, 40 and 40, respectively. Like James, Kobe Bryant — the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer with 33,643 points — skipped college basketball and entered the NBA straight out of high school. He was 37 when he retired in 2016, slowed by late-career Achilles tendon and knee injuries. Looking as dominating as ever at 38, James reportedly invests more than $1 million in grooming his body every year.
At a time when sports science has enabled athletes to extend excellence to later and later stages of their careers – Tom Brady being the most prominent example – it is reasonable to assume that James will be playing at All-Star level for years to come can. if he wants it.
James’ 2023 title hopes were likely dashed on Sunday when the team failed to land Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, who was traded to Dallas instead. James, who won a title with Irving in Cleveland in 2016, wanted Irving back on his team to make the Lakers a legitimate contender for the championship. Unfortunately, James plays his best basketball for a pretty bad team: The Lakers went into Tuesday night’s game 25-29. In a way, his efforts seem to have been wasted. Even when he broke the record, the Lakers were still 5 points down Tuesday night. However, the Lakers can qualify for the play-in round if they finish 10th – they are just 1.5 games behind Utah for this slot. If LA can sneak into the postseason, you can’t rule out James.
No matter how the Lakers At the end of this season, James has a personal incentive to keep playing: His son, Bronny, is a high school All-American and may have a shot at making it to the NBA. He’ll likely play basketball for at least a year in college (Bronny listed USC, Oregon, and Ohio State as options). James has expressed his desire to play in the NBA with Bronny, which would make them the first active father-son combination in league history.
More than anything, James’ record is a testament to his love and respect for basketball. While he’s handsomely compensated for playing — the Lakers are paying him more than $44 million this season — advertising revenue and business interests would have enriched him for years. Basketball has remained his core business.
“You can see it on his face,” says former NBA player Michael Cooper, who won five titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. “Even though LeBron is a grown man, you can still see that kid in him when he’s making a move or doing something special or making a good pass. He might not look like it – he’s bald and now has a beard – but when he first came into the league and wore that headband and was just jumping around, you can still see that. That’s the only thing I enjoyed watching him take this march to breaking the record.”
Cooper was on the court when Abdul-Jabbar passed Wilt Chamberlain in 1984 to set the all-time NBA points record. Magic Johnson insisted he is the player to provide the historic assist for Abdul-Jabbar. “Listen,” Johnson said to his teammates in the dressing room before the game, according to Cooper. “If Kareem prepares to get it, I gotta have the damn ball.” Johnson actually threw the ball to Abdul-Jabbar, who sky hooked over Utah’s Mark Eaton to give him 31,421 career points. (James didn’t need any help to secure his record).
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar acknowledges cheering fans after he set a new NBA regular season record 31,421 points with the Utah Jazz on April 5, 1984 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lennox McLendon-AP
James will probably be finished his career with more than 40,000 points, setting a ridiculously high new bar. Typically, recency bias occurs when such sports records are broken. It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction to say, “That’s a record that will never be broken.” Here’s where that prediction is a little harder to justify: Given modern basketball’s penchant for starting and hitting three-point shots and advances in player health it’s possible to imagine someone coming by and scoring at LeBron James pace. for a longer period of time (a 19-year-old phenomenon from France, 7ft, 2in Victor Wembanyama already has scouts salivating).
However, we can save such forecasts for another day. Now is a moment to celebrate James. What makes him unique and perhaps what sets him apart from Jordan in the GOAT debate is his versatile game. No one has combined the art of passing with the science of scoring like James, who is also fourth in all-time assists. He was an effective rebounder throughout his career — James averaged 8.5 boards per game — and his standout clutch moment was a blocked shot that helped the Akron, Ohio native end a 52-year championship drought for Cleveland end.
The NBA’s all-time record now belongs to a man for whom scoring was never his prime skill. That’s incredible. This is LeBron James.
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