LeBron James is now the NBA’s new all-time scoring leader.
James, one of the few teenage basketball prodigies to live up to expectations as a pro, entered Tuesday night’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder needing 36 points to pass basketball Hall-of-Famer and fellow-Laker-great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time list.
He hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper to break the record as the third quarter drew to a close and finished the game with 38 points — giving him 38,390 for his career — in a 133-130 loss.
The game was paused for a few minutes after the record-breaking bucket as James greeted his family and was acknowledged by Abdul-Jabbar and NBA commissioner Adam Silver in a short ceremony.
“Everything just stopped. It gave me an opportunity to embrace it and look around and seeing my family, the fans, my friends. It was pretty cool,” James told reporters in his postgame press conference.
“I probably can count on my hands how many times I’ve cried in 20 years, either in happiness or defeat. So that moment was one of them when I kind of teared up a little bit. It was ‘I can’t believe what’s going on’ tears.”
Abdul-Jabbar joined TNT’s national postgame show to talk about the record.
“LeBron’s career is one of someone who planned to dominate this game. [When] he got out of high school, he had the size and the talent to step right into the NBA, and he immediately started to have his effect, and it’s gone on for 20 years now. You gotta give him credit for just the way he planned to last and dominate.”
When asked whether he had ever expected anyone to beat his record, Abdul-Jabbar responded, “I thought it had every chance of being broken.”
“Just had to have somebody that the offense focused on continually,” he told the show.
People all across the entertainment and sports industries also acknowledged the achievement on social media.
James was one of the last players to enter the NBA out of high school as an 18-year-old from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, in 2003. His hometown Cleveland Cavaliers selected him with the first overall pick, and he spent seven years with the club before leaving to join forces with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami.
James later returned to Cleveland and helped lead the Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA Championship before leaving again to join the Lakers in 2018.
James is also the only NBA player to place in the top five in both points and assists for his career, and he is also near the top of the all-time lists in games played, free throws, three-point field goals, and steals.
The forward has played in the league for 20 years and has earned 19 all-star selections, four NBA Championships, four NBA Finals MVPs, and four NBA regular season MVPs, among numerous other honors.
The Lakers are 25-30 on the season and in 13th place in the Western Conference.
