Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has established himself as one of the basketball greats, right up there in the history books with Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Kareem, known as a Lakers legend, set the standards for many categories during his professional basketball career, including becoming the all-time leader in points amassed. However, LeBron moved past that mark several years ago and currently holds the record with over 43,000 and counting.
During this past season, LeBron hit his 15,385th field goal to pass Kareem for the most field goals made in NBA history, and more recently, played in his 1,612th game, passing Boston Celtics great Robert Parish to become the all-time leader in games played.
Following Monday night’s game against the Washington Wizards, LeBron is on the verge of moving past another of Kareem’s longtime records.
In Monday’s contest, the Lakers defeated the Wizards 120-101 with Luka Doncic sitting out one game for a suspension. LeBron led the way for the win with a triple-double of 21 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds in the victory.
That win gave LeBron his 1,228th between the regular season and NBA Playoffs, tying Kareem’s record. Los Angeles (49-26) has seven games left in their season for King James to pass the record.
They’re still looking to clinch a playoff spot, as they needed Phoenix to lose last night, and that didn’t happen, so continuing to get wins is necessary.
The good news is LeBron will get his superstar teammate, Luka, back in the lineup now that the one-game suspension for his 16th technical foul is served.
LeBron, 41, hasn’t said much about retirement plans, although that could happen as part of a farewell tour next season. There is speculation that the multi-time All-Star and four-time NBA Champion will go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the remaining season(s) or finish his career in Golden State as part of a superstar Warriors squad with Steph Curry and coach Steve Kerr.
For now, he’s still rocking the yellow and purple in Los Angeles, as they currently are third in the Western Conference and seemingly headed for a playoff spot.
The Lakers get a visit from the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, who could be a tough one for Los Angeles due to the tandem of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. However, Tuesday could be the night that LeBron passes Kareem once again and gets another record all to himself.
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