The protégé passes the master. These are the things movies are made of.
LeBron James broke ‘His Airness’ Michael Jeffery Jordan’s NBA record for 30-point games during the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
With a signature turnaround jumper with 5:58 to play for the last of his 30 points, James reached at least 30 points in the regular season for the 563rd time in his 22-year career, surpassing the gold standard established by Jordan in 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards. Jordan set his record in 1,072 games over 15 seasons, while James surpassed it in his 1,523rd appearance over 22 seasons.
“It’s very humbling,” James said. “Anytime I’m mentioned with any of the greats, and arguably the greatest ever to play the game, super-cool. It’s someone I idolized in my childhood, and I wear 23 because of him. So, to know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, you mention MJ, it’s like super-duper dope for me, being a kid where I’m from.”
James turned 40 on December 30, and he is among the few remaining active players who saw up close and personal Jordan in his 1990s prime with the Chicago Bulls. He studied and admired Jordan through his youth in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
When James passed Jordan for fourth place on the NBA’s career scoring list back in March 2019, the moment made him emotional on the Lakers’ bench. He called Jordan “an inspiration” and “the lightning in a bottle for me, because I wanted to be like him.”
The Lakers honored and celebrated James’ latest statistical masterpiece in their locker room after the Lakers’ 119-102 win over Atlanta. Chicago native Anthony Davis also made sure James kept his achievement in perspective, however.
“It bothers me,” the Lakers big man said with a grin. “But it took him seven more seasons. … No, actually, growing up, I was more No. 1 LeBron. That was my era. So that’s obviously a hell of an accomplishment. I think he’s probably No. 1 in everything at this point. I’ve been here long enough to witness so many accomplishments, so I’m definitely grateful to be here, and we just want to keep stacking.”
James ironically scored his final two buckets of the evening on turnaround, fadeaway jumpers that looked more than a little bit like the famed shot at the heart of Jordan’s midrange game. James said youth coaches did not always like his attempts to copy Jordan’s turnaround fade because it throws off a shooter’s balance, but he has spent his entire basketball life and journey fine tuning that particular skill into a weapon.
Embed from Getty Images“(Jordan) was more of a left-shoulder fadeaway guy,” James said. “I kind of go the opposite way. But just two masters of their craft putting in work and work and work to the point where it’s kind of become unguardable. It just works. It’s work and dedication.”
James also passed former Dallas Mavericks great and Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki (1,522) for the fourth-most games played in the regular season in NBA history Friday night. Nowitzki beat him in the 2011 finals when James was with the Miami Heat. James has already played the most postseason games (287) in NBA history.
But James shows absolutely no signs of slowing down in his record-tying 22nd season: He scored 38 points against Portland one night earlier against the Trail Blazers to tie Jordan’s 30-point mark.
James hit seven 3-pointers against the Blazers while putting up the third-most points ever scored by a player over 40, trailing only two games played by Jordan shortly after he turned 40 with Washington.
Only three players have scored at least 30 points in an NBA game after turning 40. Jordan did it four times, Nowitzki did it once and James has already done it twice in the first five days of his 40s.
“It’s just another thing that he’s done in his career, and certainly speaks to his greatness and longevity,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “That stretch where he hit two fadeaways and a 3 (with 7:14 to play) gave us the cushion we needed and control of the game.”
James became the NBA’s career scoring leader two season ago, and he holds several additional longevity records. He has scored at least 10 points in 1,253 consecutive games over the past 18 years, shattering the record set by Jordan from 1986 to 2001 (866).
