Lakers' LeBron James Becomes NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer
He was crowned "The Chosen One" a long time ago. He later developed into "The King." The NBA's all-time leading scorer is now him. On Tuesday, LeBron James made one of the most significant baskets in league history, shattering Kareem Abdul-illustrious Jabbar's record of 38,387 career points. Abdul-Jabbar was watching from courtside. With 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Arena, James, who needed 36 points to break the record, did so.
The game was halted for a brief ceremony when NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar greeted James at centre court and handed him the game ball.
James remarked, "I just want to thank the Laker faithful; you guys are one of a kind. "It means so much to me to be able to be here with someone as amazing and legendary as Kareem. This is quite demeaning." Give the captain a standing ovation, please."
James then expressed his gratitude to his family for coming.
He continued, "I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has ever been a part of this run with me over the last 20+ years because I wouldn't be me without y'all. I was able to reach this position thanks to all of your support, enthusiasm, and sacrifices.
I'd like to express my gratitude to the NBA, Adam Silver, and the late David Stern for giving me the opportunity to participate in something I've always envisioned. This being even greater than it is tonight is something I would have never, ever, ever imagined.
James entered the game sporting the traditional yellow Lakers jersey, pink sneakers, and a white headband as a homage to his earlier years.
Before the game, James said, "Here we go. "Vintage. Bandana game."
Before he scored his first points of the night on a step-back three, James went scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. He then scored eight points in a row for the Lakers while shooting 3-for-6 within a period of nine seconds in the first quarter.
Early in the second, James made back-to-back three-pointers to increase his tally to 14.
Later, he made another three, finishing the half with 20 points, the second-highest total of the season for a half for him.
After making a string of threes in the third, James came close to breaking the mark. He made history by scoring 16 points in the third.
James has received numerous honours throughout his career, which has seen him play for Miami, win a championship in Cleveland, and travel to the west for a possible Hollywood ending after being selected first overall by his hometown Cavaliers. It's possible that his biggest accomplishment was setting the scoring record, which calls on endurance, reliability, and availability.
On October 29, 2003, James, a rookie at the age of 18, scored his first NBA points against the Sacramento Kings by making a 16-foot jumper off a pass from Ricky Davis. James has earned Rookie of the Year, four NBA titles, four MVPs, four Finals MVPs, three All-Star Game MVPs, and two Olympic gold medals between that basket and the roughly 40,000 points he has scored since. He has also won four MVP awards.
James averaged 20.9 points per game as a rookie and has since averaged at least 25 points each game, three of which included more than 30 points. Since January 5, 2007, he has scored at least 10 points in every game he has participated in, setting an NBA record of 1,139 straight games (he broke Michael Jordan's record of 867 straight double-digit games in 2018).
Over the course of two stints and 11 seasons with the Cavaliers, James scored 23,119 points. In his four seasons with the Heat, he scored a total of 7,919 points. Currently at 7,350 points, he has played for the Lakers for five seasons.
He needed 36 points against the Thunder in his 1,410th career game to break the record; he was averaging 30.0 points per game entering the contest on Tuesday.
James made his NBA debut in 2003, scoring 25 points, the most of any player to do so after entering the league right out of high school. As a rookie, he scored 20.9 points on average, making him the player with the youngest career point total of 1,000.
Each of the round-number scoring milestones in the NBA saw the beginning of a trend. James, who was 21 at the time, surpassed Kobe Bryant in 2006 to become the NBA's youngest player to achieve 5,000 career points. In 2008, the youngest person achieved 10,000. And so on, and so forth, until, barring injury, he becomes the first player to accumulate 40,000 points next season.
James was the fourth NBA player to achieve 20,000 career points before turning 30 in 2013. (joining Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Wilt Chamberlain). He became one of just a handful of players to surpass 30,000 career points five years after Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Bryant, Jordan, Chamberlain, and Dirk Nowitzki.
In 2018, he passed Chamberlain, in 2019, Jordan, in 2020, Bryant, in 2022, Malone, and on Tuesday, Abdul-Jabbar.
In 1984, Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Chamberlain's old record of 31,420 points, breaking it. In his 20-year career, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 24.6 points per game across 1,560 games before retiring in 1989.
The number 38,387 might not be as revered as Wayne Gretzky's soon-to-be-broken record of 894 career goals or Hank Aaron's since-broken record of 755 lifetime home runs. LeBron's final sum won't either. However, the title does.
He entered the NBA in the midst of a greatness-driven spotlight a long time ago. He'll go out as the NBA's all-time top scorer one day.
