LeBron James Did It. Finally, The Time Has Come When We Have A New All-Time Scoring Leader. King James is the new all-time scoring leader surpassing the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Ever since the new season started, fans have been counting the days and months when this special moment in NBA history would finally arrive. The record people, including the players, started to believe untouchable for almost four decades is now touched and passed. The great and absolute legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had set really high bar for the next to his generation of players. Many greats achieved a lot on the basketball court, but nobody came close until thirty-eight years later.
LeBron James, at 38, breaks the record and is all set to raise the bar a lot higher for the players in the future. When Kareem made this record in 1984, he went on to score almost 7000 more points than the previous record held by Wilt Chamberlain. After breaking Chamberlain’s history, Kareem played for five more years until he retired in 1989 at 42. So this only makes sense that LeBron James should play for at least another four years, as he is 38 now. Hence after looking at both Kareem and LeBron’s career graphs, it is understandable that their significant advantage was their longevity and consistency. It was a special moment when LeBron James broke the record against Oklahoma City Thunder as the big man was present to witness the moment.
The Big Man On LeBron James
LeBron James was handed the game ball by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after he surpassed his record for the most points in NBA history 💛🤝🐐 pic.twitter.com/zfAi17QapX
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 8, 2023
Not only was Kareem present, but he also congratulated James. Kareem passed on the torch to the new king of the basketball jungle. After the presentation, Kareem, in an interview, Kareem said what impressed him the most about King James. He mentioned it was LeBron’s leadership skill to encourage any team. Be it a strong side or a mediocre side.
But he has the ability to carry the team on his shoulder season after season. Another legend of the Lakers franchise, Magic Johnson, was also present to congratulate the new all-time leading scorer. Albeit, the Lakers lost yet another match. And that too against a team like the Thunder, who were going through a ten-game losing streak.
Mutual Admiration Between James And AD
The Lakers are currently 25-30, still at 13th seed, and not looking like they are moving up any time soon. However, it is time to celebrate the individual brilliance of the great LeBron James. King James was naturally quite emotional after he broke the ultimate record. The man from Akron, Ohio, said, “I never thought anybody could break this record. It is a great honor for me.” Later in the final quarter, it was seen in a viral video LeBron James was sitting beside his friend and co-star of the Lakers, Anthony Davis.
He was visibly pretty emotional but managed to say, “I just wanted to tell you I love you, bro.” Anthony Davis was also proud and emotional for his superstar teammate. In the after-game interview, AD also stated that, “I have always been a big MJ fan. But when I was growing up, there was only one. In front of me from whom I could learn and get great input. It was LeBron all the way. So about the GOAT debate, I feel there can be two GOATs.”