Lakers News: LeBron James Sets NBA Record For Most Regular Season Points Ever
Well, it happened.
19-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James finally surpassed 19-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time regular season scoring record of 38,387 points tonight, when he scored his 35th and 36th points against Oklahoma City Thunder big man Kenrich Williams on a step back fadeaway jumper to set a fresh all-time record of 38,388 regular season points... with 12 minutes left in regulation!
Gameplay was instantly suspended, as James was swarmed by his children, wife Savannah, and mother Gloria. A celebratory video montage played. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and league commissioner Adam Silver were on hand to celebrate the big moment as well. Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade, Jay-Z, and many others were on hand to celebrate this absolutely insane achievement.
Best of all, King James accomplished all this by the end of the contest's third quarter. He could have 50 before all is said and done tonight!
Granted, it'd be a bit more spectacular if this Lakers team was playing for more than James padding his stats on a 13th seed. But hey, come Thursday, that could very much be the case, depending on what kind of player(s) LA adds via trade at the deadline.
It's also worth noting that James had already lapped Abdul-Jabbar in total combined regular season and postseason scoring (Kareem notched 44,149 combined points during his playing days) last year. I'd say this is arguably a more important stat given that it's reflective of playoff performance which, you know, leads to NBA titles. But for whatever reason, national sports broadcasters are completely bananas over this decidedly less significant record.
To be fair, it's much easier to score these days than it was in Cap's era, thanks in large part to the hand check rule being instituted after LBJ's rookie season, 2003-04. Scoring league-wide has since rocketed up to levels unseen in generations.
That's not to diminish this achievement, especially considering what's to come. The 38-year-old purportedly intends to play for several more seasons, meaning he will finish well north of 40,000 career regular season points.
Cap's reign as the NBA's leading scorer held for 38 years, 10 months, and two days (i.e. longer than James has been alive as of this writing).
