LeBron James surpassed Michael Jordan’s NBA record for 30-point games in the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over Atlanta on Friday night.
With the last of his 30 points with 5:58 to play, James scored at least 30 points in the regular season for the 563rd time in his career, surpassing the mark set by Jordan in 2003.
Jordan set his streak at 1,072 games over 15 seasons, while James surpassed it at 1,523 games over 22 seasons.
“It’s very humbling,” James said. “Anytime I’m mentioned with one of the greats, and maybe the best to ever play the game, that’s a guy I idolized in my childhood and I am 23 years old because of him.
“So to know that I can sit here and be in the room, or talking or whatever, you mention MJ, that’s like a super-duper dope kid to me where I’m from.”
James turned 40 last week and is one of the few remaining active players to have witnessed Jordan in person during his 1990s career with the Chicago Bulls.He studied and admired Jordan during his childhood in Akron, Ohio.
When James passed Jordan for fourth on the NBA’s career scoring list in March 2019, the moment brought him to tears on the Lakers’ bench. He called Jordan an “inspiration” and “lightning in a bottle for me because I wanted to be like him.” .
The Lakers heralded James’ latest stat advantage in their locker room after the Lakers’ 119-102 win over Atlanta.Chicago native Anthony Davis also made sure James kept his accomplishment in perspective.
“It bothers me,” the Lakers big man said with a grin I think he is probably the first in everything at the moment.
“I’ve been here long enough to see so many accomplishments, so I’m definitely thankful to be here, and we just want to keep coming together.”
James set the record in his 1,523rd game over 22 seasons, while Jordan set his streak in 1,072 games over 15 seasons.
James hit his last two buckets on turnaround, fadeaway jumpers that looked more than a little like Jordan’s famous mid-range shot. are because it breaks the balance of shooters, but he has spent his entire basketball life turning it into a weapon.
“(Jordan) was more of a left-shoulder guy,” James said. “I’m kind of going the opposite way. But it’s just two masters of their craft working and working to the point where it’s kind of indefensible it just works. It’s work and dedication.”
Coincidentally, James also passed Dirk Nowitzki (1,522) for the fourth most regular season games in NBA history on Friday night.James has already played the most postseason games in NBA history (287).
But James shows absolutely no signs of slowing down in his record 22nd season. he scored 38 points against Portland the night before, matching Jordan’s 30 points.
James became the NBA’s career scoring leader last season and has several additional scoring records, having scored at least 10 points in 1,253 consecutive games over the last 18 years, tying Jordan’s record of 866 from 1986 to 2001.
