While chasing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record, probably the greatest statistic in basketball that we might never see somebody surpass again, whenever LeBron James sets foot on the hardwood these days, he makes or breaks some other NBA record.
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The King is maintaining his supremacy with such consistency at this age that it would shame several talented players who were as talented and most likely more skilled than him but failed to keep up half his discipline for even 10 years.
However, this man has done it for 20 straight years since the day he came in as a 17-year-old to become one of the best in the game. But there’s no way he would have ever thought that he’d be putting up 30-point games 20 years later with as much ease and finesse, if not more.
LeBron James makes it to an elite list of players who scored 3 or more 30-point games after turning 38
LeBron James turned 38 on December 30th, 2022, and had 47 points to gift for the Hawks as the Lakers won the game 130-121.
“I called it before the game, so I had to make it happen,” James after the game. “After starting 1 for 5 I didn’t know if it was going to happen. I mean, I have been scoring 30 [points] and it hasn’t worked. So, I am going to try 40. And we get the win. This is good, this is math.”
That game started the Lakers’ first 5-game win streak this season, and in that stretch, James has had three 30-point games and is averaging over 38 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists in 4 appearances for his team.
With that, he is among the only four 38-year-olds to have three or more 30-point games according to StatMuse.
Players with 3+ 35-point games after turning 38:
LeBron James
Michael Jordan
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Karl MaloneLeBron has been 38 for less than 10 days. pic.twitter.com/lpFefLGQxO
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 8, 2023
Jordan, though, had 25 of those, Malone 21, Kareem 14, and Reggie Miller 4, whom StatMuse forgot to include. Here it is from their own database. We know James will top them all before he calls it a day.
LeBron’s scoring bliss is proving healthy for the Lakers after a long time
The Lakers saw themselves not make it to the playoffs last year after failing to get past the first round a year before that. Those seasons came after LeBron James along with Anthony Davis led them to a championship in 2020.
With two of those greatest 75 players of all time joining forces with another one, namely Russell Westbrook last season, the Lakers Nation got excited about another wonderful season.
But they only got to see James average 30 points per game falling short of winning the 2022 scoring title and getting closer to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record every time he took the court. Nothing more. And fans were burning in anger.
So, these victories this season, with him leading them from the front are something they have been waiting for a long time. Let’s see if he can continue this against the 26-13 Denver Nuggets.
