(CNN Philippines, February 8) — LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is the NBA’s new scoring king.
With a stepback jumper with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James pushed his career total to 38,388 points and broke the record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly four decades.
LeBron finished with 38 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals as the Lakers bowed to the Thunder, 133-130, Wednesday (Philippines time) at the Crypto.com Arena.
As James knocked down the historic shot, Abdul-Jabbar stood up from his seat and clapped. The latter handed a game ball to the former at center court.
The game was stopped as LeBron celebrated the moment with his family on the court.
It took 1,410 matches for James to achieve this milestone, compared to Abdul-Jabbar who had to play 1,560 games to reach it.
“Everybody that’s ever been a part of this run with me the last 20-plus years, I just want to say I thank you so much, because I wouldn’t be me without y’all,” an emotional James said during a brief speech.
