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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Dan Lyons

LeBron James Unimpressed by Setting NBA Record as 76ers Rout Lakers

All eyes were on LeBron James last February, when the Lakers forward hit 39,388 career points on a 15-foot jumper against the Thunder, passing fellow Los Angeles legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the No. 1 spot on the league’s all-time scoring list.

On Monday night in Philadelphia, James took over another No. 1 spot in the NBA record books, passing Abdul-Jabbar in a major statistical category once again. This time he was far less interested in reflecting on the milestone. 

After surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s 66,297 career minutes—a total that combines regular-season and postseason play—James downplayed the milestone in wake of a 138–94 blowout loss to the 76ers.

“That doesn’t mean much to me,” he said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James wasn’t excited about setting the NBA’s all-time minutes mark in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

The blowout loss likely contributed to the answer. The 44-point margin is the largest of James’s Hall of Fame career, and the fifth-largest in Lakers franchise history, according to ESPN.

James, who now has logged 66,319 career regular- and postseason minutes, was limited to 30 minutes in the loss, recording 18 points and five assists. L.A. was outscored by 30 with James on the court, the second-worst mark on the team behind Jaxson Hayes (minus-33 in 19 minutes). 

When asked about preventing another loss of that magnitude, James was quite frank.

“What needs to change in order for that not to happen again? Um, a lot,” he said, declining to add how he believes the team should respond.

“I can only speak for myself,” James said, per ESPN. “I don’t like it.”

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