It’s another night, another record for LeBron James.
With just under six minutes to play, the L.A. Lakers superstar hit an 18-foot turnaround fadeaway over the Atlanta Hawks’ Onyeka Okongwu to reach the 30-point mark in a game for the 563rd time in his career. With that, he surpassed Michael Jordan’s 22-year record for most 30-point games in NBA history.
“It’s very humbling,” James said after the Lakers won 119-102. “Anytime I’m mentioned with any of the greats, and arguably the greatest ever to play the game, super cool. It’s someone I idolized in my childhood, and I wear 23 because of him. So to know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, when you mention MJ, it’s just super-duper dope for me, being a kid from where I’m from.”
Does LeBron The Scorer Get Enough Credit?
James has often poked fun at the fact that he’s hit several significant scoring marks while not being primarily viewed as an elite scorer.
The 40-year-old has the most points in NBA history, and his longevity has served him well in doing so. Even in breaking this record, the number of games LeBron’s been able to play has been a huge factor.
While Jordan did it in 1,072 games, James crossed the mark in his 1,523rd game.
Teammate Anthony Davis even took a playful dig at that fact.
“It took him seven more seasons,” Davis said after the game. “But that’s obviously a hell of an accomplishment. I think he’s probably No. 1 f—ing everything at this point.”
James has always been recognized for his ability to facilitate and make his teammates better, and so perhaps doesn’t get as much get attention for his scoring prowess the way a Kevin Durant or James Harden might.
Lakers Starting To Turn Season Around?
Don’t look now, folks, but the Lakers have won seven of its last nine games. The team has improved to 20-14 on the season, good for fourth place in the West.
The recent trade that sent out D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to Brooklyn in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton appears to be reaping early dividends.
Austin Reaves has taken on more of the playmaking burden and is averaging 10.6 assists over his last five games while his scoring has also seen an uptick to 24.4 per game in that span.
A big test awaits on Sunday, against the 22-12 Houston Rockets.
