LeBron James might insist he's not a scorer, but the Los Angeles Lakers star punched a major hole in his own argument with a historic night amid the 20th season of his decorated NBA career.
With a 21-foot jump shot with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 career points to move into the No. 1 spot on the league's all-time scoring list Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After the record-breaking shot, James raised both hands into the air as he looked skyward. Photographers quickly circled him on the court, as chants of "MVP, MVP" rained down from the crowd at Crypto.com Arena.
The game was stopped as some members of James' family, including his wife, mother and his three children, took the floor for a ceremony recognizing the moment. The Lakers played a video filled with highlights of James' career on the arena videoboard, after which commissioner Adam Silver and Abdul-Jabbar joined James at center court.
Silver said as cited by Sports Central: "A record that has stood for nearly 40 years. "Many people thought it would never be broken. LeBron, you are the NBA's all-time scoring leader. Congratulations.
Abdul-Jabbar then handed James a basketball, as the two posed for photos before James took the microphone to address the crowd.
James said: "I just wanna say thank you to the Laker faithful. You guys are one of a kind. To be able to be in the presence of such a legend as great as Kareem, it means so much to me. It's very humbling. "Please give a standing ovation to the captain, please ... To my beautiful wife, my daughter, my two boys, my friends ... man, everybody that's ever been a part of this run with me the last 20 years -- 20-plus years -- I just wanna say I thank you so much 'cause I wouldn't be me without y'all. "And to the NBA, to Adam Silver, to the late-great David Stern, I thank you guys so much for allowing me to be a part of something I've always dreamed about. And I would never, ever in a million years dreamt this even better than what it is tonight."
James entered the game with 38,352 points, needing 36 on the night to overtake Abdul-Jabbar. The Lakers credentialed more than 200 media members for the occasion, an amount typically seen for a late-round playoff game. James' family and friends from Akron, Ohio, were in attendance, including some high school teammates.
James told ESPN last month with the record approaching: "When I say I'm not a scorer, I say it in a sense of, it's never been the part of my game that defines me. "The scoring record was never, ever even thought of in my head because I've always been a pass-first guy."
The four-time champion and four-time MVP has bolstered his claim by also ranking No. 4 in all-time assists, No. 9 in steals, No. 32 in rebounds and No. 91 in blocks -- all a testament to James' dominance and longevity, having logged the third-most minutes in league history.
Abdul-Jabbar's record had stood since April 5, 1984. James, 38, was born about nine months later.
James said last week: "I grew up being a historian of all sports. "I don't have the number like planted in my head -- the actual, real number. I know it's 38 (thousand and) something. But I know it's been Kareem. My whole life.
It's been a basketball life played out in the national spotlight since the time he was a teenager, playing televised games in high school, skipping college to become the No. 1 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, announcing his first major free agency decision on a made-for-TV special, and all the while leading his teams to 10 appearances in the NBA Finals.
This Lakers season has been up and down, starting off 2-10 and marred by a slew of setbacks that have caused coach Darvin Ham to shuffle through 27 different starting lineups -- the most in the league -- but James' sustained excellence has led to a parade of praise from his contemporar
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Amidst a group of nine legendary basketball players and Hall of Famers, “LeBron James career stocks” stands out as the most recent and shortest member to reach the milestone of 4,000 combined steals and blocks, often referred to as “stocks.” For complete blogs don't forget to click on link. https://www.basketballall.com/lebron-james-career-stocks-4000-ninth-player-in-nba-history/ .
