LeBron James has surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the highest scorer in NBA history, breaking a 39-year record.
The 38-year-old scored 38 points in the game, bringing his NBA total to 38,390. Abdul-Jabbar was on hand to congratulate him at the Crypto.com Arena.
However, Abdul-Jabbar held the record for nearly 39 years after surpassing Wilt Chamberlain in 1984 and James needed to score 36 points to break it on Tuesday.
With the Lakers trailing 97-104 at the end of the third quarter, James buried a fadeaway jumper before raising his arms in celebration. Abdul-Jabbar stood up to applaud his compatriot’s 38,388th point.
Play was paused as James celebrated with his family on the court. However, Abdul-Jabbar, 75, ceremoniously handed the ball over to the Lakers forwards before the Thunder won by a single point.
38,388 POINTS
LeBron James hits the fadeaway jumper to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer! #ScoringKing pic.twitter.com/P5LyTZAZn3
— NBA (@NBA) February 8, 2023
In an interview with TNT Sports, Abdul-Jabbar paid tribute to Lebron James, claiming that the Lakers star possessed a “indefinable essence” of leadership.
“LeBron’s career is one of someone who planned to dominate this game. And it’s gone for almost 20 years now,” the 75-year-old said.
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“You have to give him credit for just the way he played and for the way he’s lasted and dominated. He has that indefinable essence that they call leadership. I thought it had every chance of being broken. It just had to have someone that the offense focused on continually.”
In a video message, United States President Joe Biden congratulated James as well.
Lebron James reached his milestone point total in 1,410 games, 150 fewer than Abdul-Jabbar took to set his previous record of 38,387, but defeat dropped the Lakers to 13th in the Western Conference.
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