LeBron James has become the NBA's all-time points record holder, after surpassing NBA legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's total of 38,387, 20 seasons on, from his debut.
The points came on Tuesday night,
February 8 for the LA Lakers against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a
130-133 defeat where he put up 38.
With a step back jump shot with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, James pushed his career total to 38,388 points and broke the record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for almost four decades.
The 38-year-old had been nursing a sore ankle in the run-up to the game, an injury that he manages day to day. But James played through the pain and pulled off a historic feat at the Crypto.com Arena.
Surrounded by cameras, James addressed the crowd in the late third quarter as he surpassed the record, emotionally stating: "I thank you guys so much for allowing me to be a part of something I've always dreamed about".
James then greeted Kareem who had been watching from courtside, he presented LeBron with the basketball, as a sign of passing on the torch and thus extending his legacy:
NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement regarding James
passing Abdul-Jabbar's to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer;
"congratulations
to LeBron on breaking one of the most hallowed records in all of
sport...it's a towering achievement that speaks to his sustained
excellence over 20 seasons in the league".
James added: "To
the NBA, to Adam Silver, to the late, great David Stern, I thank you
guys so much for allowing me to be a part of something I've always
dreamed about".
He went on to say "Man, everybody that's been a part of this run with me these last 20+ years. I just wanna say thank you so much because I wouldn't be me without y'all"..
