LeBron James broke a record that was held for nearly four decades.
LeBron James has never considered himself to be a scorer.
It’s just not his game, as he would say. He prefers to make plays for others, like what Magic Johnson did for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 80s.
“I don’t like being singled out as a scorer,” James told ESPN’s Zach Lowe. “I’ve always prided myself in being a pass-first guy—a guy who can make everybody feel comfortable.”
But despite this “pass-first” mentality, LeBron is still a really good scorer. Like, he’s elite with it.
Ever since he stepped on an NBA hardwood, he showed fans and critics around the globe that he could get buckets.
And he can do it with ease, too.
It’s so easy, in fact, that he was able to become the top scorer in the NBA by passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the All-Time Scoring list.
Abdul-Jabbar held the title for 38 years -the same number of years as LeBron’s age when he took the throne.
LeBron Breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Scoring Record
On Feb.7, 2023, the Lakers hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Crypto.com Center.
LeBron had been progressively adding to his total points the entire season and he was expected to make history on this day. He only needed 36 points to pass Kareem.
Everyone came out to witness it. Hall of Famers, legends, celebrities, influencers… everyone.
And I’m sure he didn’t want to disappoint the fans. So, he put on a show.
However, he started the first quarter off slowly as he only scored eight points.
The Lakers, though, were still down 10 despite LeBron’s aggressive scoring. The score at halftime was 76-66 for the Thunder.
But the deficit didn’t matter to LeBron. He knew that if he kept scoring, the Lakers had a chance to win.
Additionally, he would also get the scoring record if he kept sinking shots. He only needed a handful more.
So he continued to get buckets. And many of them were amazing.
But the most noteworthy one came in the final moments of the quarter.
With a few seconds left in the third, LeBron called for the ball. He posted the Thunders’ Kenrich Williams up, backed him down, stepped back, and went for a fadeaway.
Swish.
The crowd erupted. The Lakers were now only down five.
But they weren’t screaming and hollering and cheering because the Lakers cut down the lead.
Rather, it was because LeBron took over the All-Time Scoring list, surpassing Kareem by one point.
Officials paused the game to celebrate the significant achievement. Confetti fell and all of his family and friends came onto the court to congratulate him.
Via NBA.com:
“To be in the presence of such a legend and great as Kareem, it means so much to me. It’s very humbling,” James said as the game was stopped for a brief ceremony at center court. “To everybody who’s ever been a part of this run with me the last 20 years, I just want to say thank you so much.
“To the NBA … I thank you guys so much for letting me be part of something I’ve always dreamed about. I would never, ever in a million years dreamed it’s better than what it is tonight.”
Abdul-Jabbar also came onto the hardwood to pass the torch to LeBron.
And after about ten minutes of celebration, the game resumed with ten seconds left in the quarter.
LeBron was clearly gassed from the commemoration as he played eight minutes in the fourth quarter and only scored two points. He also didn’t do much of anything else.
The Thunder ended up taking advantage of LeBron’s adrenaline dump and won the game 133-130.
The King finished the contest with 38 points on 65 percent shooting.
Final Thoughts
LeBron James went on to add more points to his total.
By the end of the 2022-23 NBA season, he had a total of 38,652 regular season points.
