Despite coming up short against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, some history was made once again by Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. With his 26 points, James passed another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, for most career points in NBA history, regular season and playoffs combined.
This list is different from the one typically thrown around as it encompasses both regular season and playoff points. Abdul-Jabbar is still atop the list of most regular-season points, but this remains an outstanding accomplishment for LeBron nonetheless.
His longtime rival Stephen Curry has made some history himself this season and despite facing off a number of times in the NBA Finals, Curry had a lot of praise for LeBron following his latest milestone, via Mark Haynes of Clutch Points:
Earlier this season, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry made NBA history. The two-time MVP passed Ray Allen to become the all-time leader in 3-pointers made and continues to add to his total. Saturday, another historical milestone was reached, and this time it was Curry’s opponent making history. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in points scored in a career, with regular season and playoff games included. “It’s wild to think about how many games he’s played, how long he’s been doing it, the longevity of it all is legendary,” Curry told ClutchPoints. “When you’re in that position when you play that many games, you’ve been in so many different playoff runs, he’s obviously won championships and has done it year after year after year. There’s no real end in sight I don’t think, but that’s a pretty special accomplishment.”
Curry would continue on, noting how impressive it is that James is also closing in on the regular-season mark:
“I know he’s probably got his eyes set on the actual scoring list (regular season) or whatever it is. I don’t know how far he is off from that, but it’s crazy to think about,” the Warriors star said after defeating the Lakers.
Anytime you pass Abdul-Jabbar on a scoring list, it is a remarkable achievement and James deserves all the praise for doing so. The fact that most would consider LeBron’s passing to be the best part of his game, not scoring, and yet he still is atop the points list truly shows how special the Lakers’ superstar is.
Still dominating in his 19th season it could only be a matter of time before LeBron overtakes the other scoring list at which point the Lakers star could be on top of a lot of other people’s GOAT list.
James appreciative to pass Abdul-Jabbar on points list
The unfortunate part of LeBron making history was that it came in a loss. But even still, the Lakers star was appreciative of what he accomplished on the court against the Warriors.
“Well, it’s hard for me to speak on it now because I hate doing anything that comes in a loss and we had an opportunity to win a big game tonight,” James said. “But like I said, throughout my career, any time I’ve been linked with some of the greats I’ve just been in awe. I’ve been appreciative to have an opportunity to play this game at the highest level. I love the game of basketball, I love being a part of the NBA and being able to inspire so many different sets of generations.
“And along that way when you’re able to accomplish individually then at some point, I guess having an opportunity to kind of sit back and think about it and how you feel about it.”
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