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LeBron James on his minute record: "It doesn't mean much to me"
Photo: Matt Slocum / AP
Basketball star LeBron James has suffered the heaviest defeat of his NBA career. The 38-year-old lost with the Los Angeles Lakers 94-138 to the Philadelphia 76ers. He has never experienced a loss by 44 points in his 21-year NBA career.
The fact that James improved another record hardly mattered in view of the disappointing result. With 66,319 minutes on the court, the four-time NBA champion is now the basketball player with the most minutes played in league history. James replaced basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the record holder.
"It doesn't mean much to me," James, who was his team's leading scorer with 18 points but didn't grab a single rebound, said after the game. Earlier this year, he had already broken Abdul-Jabbar's points record.
For Philadelphia, Joel Embiid, last season's most valuable player, managed a triple-double with 30 points, eleven rebounds and assists. The Sixers sank 22 three-pointers, LA only seven. In the 290 duels between the 76ers and the Lakers, there has never been a more significant defeat for the NBA record champions.
After his move to the Los Angeles Clippers, world champion Daniel Theis has suffered his second defeat in six appearances for his new club. The Clippers lost 104-113 to the Denver Nuggets, although the champions were missing Serbian star Nikola Jokić due to back problems. The Clippers led 90-80 at the beginning of the last quarter, then the guests turned the game around. Theis had four points in twelve minutes of action. Kawhi Leonard was the top scorer with 31 points, while Reggie Jackson stood out for Denver with 35 points and 13 assists. After the ninth loss in the 16th game of the season, the Clippers remain in eleventh place in the West. Defending champion Denver (12-6) is third.
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