LeBron James Surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Become Scoring King

Last night, as the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James officially broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA scoring record. James entered the game needing 36 points and finished with 38 (going 13 for 20) plus 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Abdul-Jabbar’s record was set on April 5, 1984. James was born on December 30, 1984.

Tune in to SiriusXM NBA Radio (Ch. 86) now to hear hosts and guests react live.

The record-breaking shot, a fadeaway jumper, happened with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter. James broke down in tears on the court as the game paused for celebration.

“Everything just stopped,” he said after the game. “It gave me an opportunity to embrace it and look around and seeing my family, the fans, my friends. It was pretty cool. I probably can count on my hands how many times I have cried in 20 years, either in happiness or in defeat. So that moment was one of them when I kind of teared up a little bit. It was ‘I can’t believe what’s going on’ tears.”

The Lakers ultimately lost to OKC 133-130.

“Congratulations to LeBron,” SiriusXM NBA Radio host Frank Isola said during this morning’s episode of The Starting Lineup. “Really kind of the icing or cherry on top of a brilliant career. He’s now the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. That record’s going to continue to grow every time that LeBron goes out there.”

“We don’t know how long this is going to go on for,” Isola’s cohost, Brian Scalabrine, said of LeBron’s success at age 38. “But I will say, it’s just an amazing feat, if you think about it … The thing that’s most impressive about all this [is that] LeBron’s not close to being done. He’s still playing at an incredibly high level.”