LOS ANGELES — From the No. 23 on his uniform to the turnaround, fadeaway shot he hit in the fourth quarter to reach the feat, LeBron James simultaneously honored Michael Jordan while also breaking his record for the most 30-point games in NBA history in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
“It’s very humbling,” James said after the Lakers won 119-102 at Crypto.com Arena for their eighth win in the past 11 games. “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, when you mention MJ, it’s just super-duper dope for me, being a kid from where I’m from.”
With an 18-foot jumper with 5:58 to play for the last of his 30 points, James reached at least 30 points in a regular-season game for the 563rd time in his career, breaking the record established by Jordan in 2003. Jordan set the record in 1,072 games over 15 seasons. James broke the mark in his 1,523rd game over 22 seasons.
Anthony Davis, who returned from an ankle injury to put up 18 points, 19 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks, ribbed James for needing so much time to pass Jordan.
“It took him seven more seasons,” Davis said, shooting a smirk in James’ direction. “But that’s obviously a hell of an accomplishment. I think he’s probably No. 1 f—ing everything at this point.”
James looked up to Jordan while growing up in Akron, Ohio, and when he passed Jordan for fourth place on the NBA’s career scoring list in March 2019, the moment moved him to tears on the Lakers’ bench. He called Jordan “an inspiration” and “the lightning in a bottle for me, because I wanted to be like him.”
When James was approaching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring mark two seasons ago, he joked that he could try to pass the all-time great by shooting Abdul-Jabbar’s signature skyhook.
His shot to secure 30 points Friday — a turnaround, fadeaway jumper along the left wing — was a patented move of Jordan’s.
Only with a twist.
“He was more of a left-shoulder fadeaway guy,” James said. “I kind of go the opposite way. But it’s two…
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