LeBron James on Wednesday evening overtook Michael Jordan in the NBA record books as he passed his fellow American’s points-scoring tally in the LA Lakers’ 115-99 defeat to the Denver Nuggets.
James scored 31 points to take his total to 32,311 and eclipse Jordan’s tally of 32,292.
It leaves the 34-year-old fourth on the list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in top spot with 38,387, while Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant are second and third.
James wore shoes with the message “Thank You MJ”.
"M.J. was an inspiration," James said after the game. "M.J. was the lightning in a bottle for me, because I wanted to be like him."
"A lot of stuff that I've done in my career...this ranks right up there at the top," he said.
He continued: "For a kid from Akron, Ohio needing inspiration, needing some type of positive influence, MJ was that guy for me.
"I watched him from afar, wanted to be like MJ, wanted to shoot fadeaways like MJ, wanted to stick my tongue out on dunks like MJ, wanted to wear my sneakers like MJ. I wanted kids to look up to me at some point like MJ. It's beyond crazy.
"Why it is so crazy to me right now seeing where I'm at in the scoring of all-time greats in the game of basketball, because I've never been about scoring."
