It was a historic moment for LeBron James during Tuesday night’s game as he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points during his NBA career.
The moment everyone was anxiously waiting for happened during the third quarter of the L.A. Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game. Crypto.com Arena was filled with James’ family, friends, and fans, including Abdul-Jabbar, waiting to be able to witness the bucket that put James on top of the scoring record.
It was an amazing moment for James and all his fans to hear Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA say, “LeBron, you are the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. Congratulations.”
Earlier this season, James, 38, became the second player in NBA history to score more than 38,000 points, just behind Abdul-Jabbar, 75. At that time, James told reporters, “Been appreciative of the opportunity to play this game at the highest level.” He continued, “I love the game of basketball. I love being a part of the NBA and being able to inspire so many different sets of generations. I guess it’s a pretty big deal.”
Ahead of James breaking the all-time scoring record, Abdul-Jabbar said he was “excited to see it happen” and explained that he sees this as a “human achievement.”
“I don’t see records as personal accomplishments, but more as human achievements,” he told NBA reporter Marc Stein. “If one person can do something that’s never been done before, that means we all have a shot at doing it. It’s a source of hope and inspiration.”
Abdul-Jabbar continued with a story about Roger Bannister. “Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile back in 1954. Since then, not only have 1,400 runners beaten that time, but the new record is 17 seconds less,” he said. “We all win when a record is broken, and if LeBron breaks mine, I will be right there to cheer him on.”
And he was there to pass the torch, or rather basketball, to the new highest scoring player in the league. According to a post shared on the NBA’s Instagram page, James is now at 38,390 points, and with each game played, it will continue to grow, since James isn’t ready to retire anytime too soon.
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LeBron James Reflects On Where His Journey Began
A clip shared on the NBA’s Instagram page show’s James taking a moment to reflect on where his basketball journey began. As he holds a photo of him on Christmas at 3-years-old, and asked by a reporter, “What is this kid thinking right here,” he talks about starting the journey that took him to being named the highest scoring NBA player of all time.
“He’s just happy about getting presents on Christmas,” he says as he looks at the photo. “Getting ready to start his journey on playing basketball. Fell in love with it right then and there.”
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James‘ fans took to the comments to leave their thoughts on his basketball journey and how far it’s taken him from being a toddler with his first basketball hoop.
“That hoop was probably the greatest investment ever made,” one person wrote. Another added, “Lebron knew he gon break the record tonight from age 3.”
