NBA superstar, LeBron James vows to play for more years after becoming NBA’s leading points scorer
Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
NBA superstar, LeBron James has vowed to keep playing after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer.
The Lakers forward, 38, went into the match-up with Oklahoma City needing 36 points to take the scoring record, and he finished with 38 points in a 133-130 loss.
Speaking on his milestone, James said: ‘I know I can play a couple more years, the way I’m feeling, the way my body’s been reacting to me throughout this course of the season, I know I can play a couple more years.’
‘I feel like for any group of guys, for any franchise, I can go out there and still help win multiple championships or win a championship, so that’s my mindset.’
He added: ‘It’s so surreal because it’s something I never made a goal of mine or set out to do.’
James went into the game against OKC needing 36 points to overtake the record of 38,387 – which was set by Abdul-Jabbar in 1989. He claimed the record with 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter with a trademark fadeaway jumper.
The likes of Rihanna, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, as well as basketball legends, Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal paid tribute to James for achieving the feat in a series of video messages.
When O’Neal, one of the panellists on TNT, asked James directly if he was now the undisputed Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). He said:
‘I always feel like I’m the best to ever play this game but there’s so many other great ones and I’m just happy to be a part of their journey.’
This was a historic night with Abdul-Jabbar courtside to pass the torch on with his record finally toppled.
