Even before the start of this NBA season, it was clear that he was destined to become historic.
For almost 40 years, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been ranked first in the number of points scored in the regular season, and neither the legendary Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, nor Karl Malone, who came closest to the indicators of the former Milwaukee center and " Lakers."
But in February 2023, the record that had recently seemed eternal fell, and the title of the most productive basketball player passed to LeBron James.
In fact, already at the end of last year, no one had any doubts that the King would manage to reach the first line of the list long before the playoffs.
If at the start the form of the Lakers leader raised serious questions, then over time he gained the usual momentum and began to churn out an average of “thirty” per match, and in some meetings he even gave out real extravaganzas.
So, on the day of his 38th birthday, he shipped as many as 47 points to Atlanta, and a couple of weeks later he literally dealt with Houston on his own.
He added nine assists and eight rebounds to 48 points to help the Purple and Golds break a three-game losing streak.
Thus, by the beginning of February, the gap from Abdul-Jabbar was only 116 points, and the main question was only in which game James would rewrite the record for himself.
Give LeBron another couple of incredible performances and the momentous event could well have happened during the away game against New Orleans, but he seemed to slow down a bit to celebrate this achievement with Los Angeles fans at home.
Perhaps the entire basketball world expected that James would finally rewrite history in the meeting with Oklahoma City, and in the first half he made a serious bid for this.
In two quarters, LeBron scored a grandmaster's "twenty" and reduced the gap from Karim to 15 points, and during the break he promised his sons to bypass the six-time NBA champion.
And in the end he kept his promise.
With 10.9 seconds remaining in the third 12-minute period, he reached 37,388 points with his trademark deflection shot and set a new association record, breaking the standing ovation of all the fans gathered in the arena.
At the same moment, a lot of journalists ran into the arena, two of his sons and a daughter approached James, and the audience began to chant “MVP!
MVP!
Abdul-Jabbar, who was present in the stands, also applauded, having come to see with his own eyes how his achievement would fall.
What can not be said about the star center Anthony Davis, who unexpectedly reacted with restraint to one of the most important shots in his partner's career.
The organizers did not wait for a break between the quarters and arranged a celebration of James right after his historic hit.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver entered the site in the company of the same Abdul-Jabbar.
And while the head of the association read out a solemn speech, LeBron himself finally gave vent to emotions.
Leaning over the parquet, the Lakers forward sobbed and could not stop even when Kareem symbolically handed him the ball.
Only a minute later the King addressed the audience.
“I want to say thank you to the loyal fans of the Lakers.
You are one of a kind.
Standing next to a great legend like Karim means a lot to me.
This is a great honor.
Please, give a standing ovation to the captain, please… To everyone who has been with me for these 20+ years, I want to say a big thank you, because without you I would not have become myself.
All your help, all your passion and all your sacrifices have helped me to come to this.
I am grateful to the NBA, to Adam Silver, to the late great David Stern for allowing me to be a part of what I always dreamed of, ”James admitted.
After that, LeBron was no longer able to fully return to the match.
In the final 12-minutes, he only threw twice on the ring, hit once and failed to save the Lakers from a second loss in a row.
But it is unlikely that this circumstance greatly spoiled his mood.
At the end of the meeting, all attention was focused on James, who continued to receive congratulations.
So, Karim admired the incredible career of an athlete and praised his leadership qualities, and another purple-gold legend, Magic Johnson, was very pleased that another representative of the team from Los Angeles was able to achieve this success.
“This historic moment is special because we will never see another LeBron James.
He has always been a pass-oriented leader who has a unique ability to make his teammates better.
And this makes his record even more incredible!” Johnson wrote on his Twitter page.
The scoring record was the crowning achievement of LeBron's collection, whose track record also includes four NBA titles, the same number of regular season and playoff finals MVP titles, as well as two Olympic gold medals and 19 consecutive All-Stars.
And it is not surprising that in light of this, the press again started talking about the status of the greatest basketball player in history, the main contenders for which James and Jordan have long been considered.
“Let others discuss and decide, but this is a great topic for a casual conversation.
Personally, I would prefer myself to anyone who has ever played this game.
However, everyone has their own favorite, and everyone decides for himself who is the best for him.
I myself know what I brought to the game and what contribution I continue to make in every match.
I know what I'm capable of on the court.
I always feel like I'm the best that ever played this game, but there are so many great players that I'm just happy to share this journey with them, ”James said on TNT.
Perhaps in the future, LeBron will have a chance to further cement his legacy and secure a few more votes in the battle for the title of the greatest.
According to the King, he does not intend to end his career in the near future and plans to compete for the fifth title.
And as for the performance record, there is no doubt that James will try to do everything to be the first in history to exchange the fifth decade - for this it will be enough for him to avoid serious injuries in the coming year.