If you don’t believe that LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, in his 20th season, has already amassed the greatest career in the history of the National Basketball Association, then numbers must not be your thing. On Tuesday, in a home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, “King James” passed the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in NBA points scored, breaking what was long thought to be an unbreakable record.
James added to a list of accomplishments that one would need a scroll to read in full.
In the process, James added to a list of accomplishments that one would need a scroll to read in full. In addition to tying Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 19 All-Star nods and taking his place as the league’s all-time top scorer, James is also ranked fourth all-time in assists. To put that in perspective, no one else in the top 25 scorers is even on the top 25 list of passers. (Kobe Bryant, who ranked 33rd in assists, is the closest). James scoring that many points and making that many passes leading to points boggles the mind.
Along the way, in these polarizing times of social justice protest and right-wing backlash, James has amassed an army of haters. And not just grumpy fans clinging to Michael Jordan as their GOAT. Because he has spoken out politically — most notably against racist police violence and the agenda of Donald Trump — James has faced down, in no particular order, Trump himself, Fox News and harassment that included racist graffiti on the door of his home.
The hate hasn’t crushed him. It seems to instead have emboldened him.
The way he’s consistently fought back is something we haven’t seen from athletes before, but something befitting his cultural capital, his creative mind and frankly his net worth. When James criticized Trump for not doing a good job as president and making comments that he called “laughable and scary,” Fox News’ Laura Ingraham said he should “shut up and dribble.” So James made a documentary series with
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