LeBron James made more history in the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. LeBron led the way with 30 points to go along with eight assists in the 17-point victory and in doing so, surpassed Michael Jordan for the most career 30-point games in NBA history.
Anytime a player is able to pass Jordan on any sort of scoring list it is a true accomplishment and while LeBron admitted this wasn’t something he ever sought out, the Lakers superstar was still humbled and excited at moving ahead of his childhood idol.
“I don’t know because it’s never been a goal of mine, but very humbling,” James said when asked what it meant to him to pass Jordan. “Anytime I’m mentioned with any of the greats and arguably one of the greatest to ever play the game, [it’s] super cool. Someone I idolized in my childhood. I wear 23 because of him. To know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, and you mention MJ (Michael Jordan), it’s super-duper dope for me. Being a kid from where I’m from.”
Making it a bit more poetic was the fact that LeBron reached that 30-point mark on a fadeaway jumper, a shot Jordan mastered and made famous. It is a shot the Lakers star has also put a lot of work into and he spoke to how important it is to maintain balance on the jumper.
“For sure. But he was more of a left shoulder fadeaway guy. I kind of go the opposite way,” James added. “But just two masters of their craft just putting in work to the point where it’s kind of become unguardable. It’s just work. Work and dedication. Obviously watching MJ move the ball in the air, fading away but still being on balance.
“Sometimes when you’re growing up, a lot of little league coaches and stuff, they hate that shot because you’re fading away from the basket and you don’t have a lot of balance. But I watched MJ a lot and saw how on balance he was even though he was fading away from the basket. So I just wanted to try to match that as my career has grown over the years.”
LeBron’s teammate Anthony Davis made sure to point out afterwards that it took the Lakers star seven more seasons to reach this mark than it did Jordan, which got a good laugh. But regardless, this is an accomplishment that is more proof towards LeBron’s greatness over a period of time that is unmatched by anyone in NBA history.
Lakers’ LeBron James stresses balance as most important aspect of fadeaway
When further discussing the fadeaway jumper that has become a staple of LeBron James’ arsenal, the Lakers star stressed how important balance is to mastering the shot while adding that he put in a lot of work to figure it out.
“Well I didn’t have the luxury of asking Mike about the fade,” LeBron said. “But I watched a lot of film on a lot of great scorers and that shot and it’s one of the most unguardable shots in the game along with a couple of other moves and a couple of other shots in history.
“But I think the most important is staying on balance even though you’re fading away. It’s very challenging, very difficult, that’s why we don’t see a lot of guys that are able to do it in history. But it’s a lot of work. I’ve spent a lot of f—ing time on that shot, for real. It’s just a lot of work.”
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