The crowning of King James
There was talk, or rather hope, that LeBron James would go past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record with a sky hook. It would have been the perfect nod to Jabbar, whose unstoppable shot helped him dominate the post, and break the previous record way back in 1984.
James didn't pass Abdul-Jabbar’s mark with the sky hook though. Rather, he employed a step-back fadeaway jumper from the foul line over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kenrich Williams with 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter on Tuesday night.
ALSO READ: Watch: LeBron James becomes NBA's all-time scoring king, surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
It was typical of a player who almost always picks the right option on the court but at the same time it also showed how James is perhaps the most complete all-around package the game has seen – no shot is beyond him. He didn't have the fadeaway in his arsenal when he started his journey in 2003; he added it to his mix along with so many other things. His shooting range, the handling, the strength, the pace, the explosiveness... all make him unstoppable.
The moment he went past the long-standing mark, the game stopped. An emotional James put his arms up in celebration while Abdul-Jabbar, who was at the match at the Lakers home court, stood and applauded.
A video was rolled out, James's family took to the court and Abdul-Jabbar, now 75, passed a symbolic ball over to the LA Lakers star. The game was still on but the show had ended. Needing 36 to surpass Abdul-Jabbar, James resumed to finish on 38 points, though his team lost 130-133.
“Everybody that has ever been a part of this run with me the last 20-plus years, I want to say thank you so much because I wouldn’t be me without all you. You all helped. Your passion and sacrifices helped me to get to this point,” said James.
“And to the NBA, to Adam Silver, to the late great David Stern, thank you very much for allowing me to be a part of something I always dreamed about. I would never in a million years dreamt this to be even better than what it is tonight."
By the time Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he had stretched the all-time (regular season) mark to 38,387 points. It stood the test of time and outlasted many great careers – including those of Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
The all-time scoring record was, along with Don Bradman’s Test average of 99.94, Wilt Chamberlain’s 50.4 points per game in one NBA season, Boston Celtics’ eight consecutive NBA championships, Babe Ruth's .690 career slugging percentage, Simone Biles' 19 world gymnastics gold medals, Michael Phelps's 28 Olympic medals and Sachin Tendulkar's 100 international tons, one of the unbreakables.
Possible to break but it would require immense dedication and determination – exactly of the kind James has shown.
“I thought it had every chance of being broken. It just had to have someone that the offense focused on continually,” said Abdul-Jabbar.
“LeBron’s career is one of someone who planned to dominate this game. You have to give him credit for just the way he played and for the way he’s lasted and dominated,” he said. “LeBron has that indefinable essence they call leadership.”
Right from the moment the 17-year-old high school junior was anointed the ‘Chosen One' by Sports Illustrated in 2002, the 38-year-old, 6ft 9in forward has hardly put a foot wrong on the court. In a modern sport that is defined by distraction, that takes some doing.
Just being mentioned as the heir to Air Jordan proved a burden for many, but James took it as a badge of honour. He’s got this record but he is also in the top-10 all-time lists for assists, steal, defensive rebounds, field goals made and 3-pointers made. For the spectacular, he has the tomahawk (one-handed) dunk.
“This ride has been fantastic. Every so many years (Cedar Point) comes out with a new roller coaster,” James said. “And we spent plenty of times just testing out the roller coaster. Many highs, many loops, how fast it goes and you get off feeling so much excitement, feeling like I wanna do it again.
“My career has been like that. Stomach drops at times, excited, yelling, sometimes you can’t breathe, but you always wanna do it again. It’s been a pleasure and honor so far in these 20 years, the ups and downs, trials and tribulations.
“I didn’t want to emulate anyone, I wanted to give praise to everyone who came before me. Acknowledge I’m a historian of the game. But I didn’t want to emulate nobody, I wanted to be myself.”
The beauty of sport is that you never know what you're going to get. James upended that by staying true to the course. He missed the All-Star game as a rookie in 2004 but has been picked every year since. That streak stretches to 19 – tying him with Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time record.
All those numbers wouldn't have meant much without the titles and James has four in 10 trips to the NBA Finals with the last coming in 2020 with the Lakers. When you have such numbers, it is but right that you feature in the Greatest-Of-All-Time debate.
Asked after the game whether he is the best NBA player of all time, the man dubbed ‘The King’ said: “I’ll let everybody else decide who that is or just talk about it, but it’s great barbershop talk.
“Me personally, I’m going to take myself against anybody who’s ever played this game. But everyone’s going to decide who their favourite is.”
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