On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James made history when he hit a fadeaway jumper in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Following the basket, the game stopped as the Lakers and everyone in attendance acknowledged the truly amazing accomplishment and moment that just occurred. But the celebration wasn’t done on that night as the Lakers wanted to honor LeBron once again ahead of Thursday’s game against the Bucks.
Even though James sat out due to left foot soreness, the Lakers held a ceremony to honor him as the NBA’s new all-time leading scorer. LeBron would then give a speech, noting those he looked up to and wanted to emulate including Lakers legends Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, via Bleacher Report:
LeBron talks about looking up to Magic, MJ, A.I. and Kobe 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Ejf3KcEyPk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 10, 2023
James mentioned how he wanted to throw no-look passes like Magic, which he definitely accomplished. And while he shot fadeaways and crossed people over, it wasn’t quite the same as Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, though it was still his own version and very effective. He never did accomplish the afro or dunk contest win of Kobe though, much to the chagrin of many.
But most touching was LeBron speaking about his family. His wife Savannah, mother Gloria, sons Bronny and Bryce and daughter Zuri, or as James referred to them as, “my starting 5,” via Spectrum SportsNet:
"This is my starting five right here." 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/hJgzGcTa6e
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 10, 2023
James made it clear that everything he has accomplished to this point, his ability to do everything he does and inspire everyone around the world would not be possible without the love, support, commitment and sacrifice from his family.
It is something that is not spoken about much, but the life of an NBA player puts a lot of stress on their families. But it is not something that is lost on LeBron himself and he made sure to take time to give them the credit they deserve for allowing him to be the great that he is.
LeBron James gets imaging on his left foot that shows general wear and tear
While James was honored before the game, he didn’t actually suit up due to the ongoing soreness in his left foot. The Lakers got some imaging done on it and head coach Darvin Ham says it showed nothing serious was happening.
“Just us monitoring his foot and the issues there,” Ham said. “He was able to get some pictures of it and we’re thankful that there’s not anything extensive, it’s just more of a wear and tear. The biggest thing for him is for us to be efficient with his availability as well as his minutes and all of that to try to give his body a chance whenever he can to recover.”
Now hopefully the Lakers and LeBron will be able to do what they can to have him on the court leading the team in their push to the postseason.
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