It has been a historic season for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as he recently became the second NBA player in history to score 38,000 career points and it is now only a matter of time before the four-time NBA champion becomes the league’s all-time leading scorer.
Breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record will be a highlight not only for James, but for the Lakers organization as well. They have struggled as a team this season and are still working to get back in playoff contention, but that doesn’t take away from what James has accomplished individually in his career.
With James’ historic achievement likely coming as soon as before the 2023 NBA All-Star break, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver explained how the league will honor James’ special accomplishment. According to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, Silver said James’ games will be broadcasted more widely as he approaches Abdul-Jabbar’s record and he will also be honored during All-Star Weekend if he breaks it beforehand:
Silver assured reporters the league will not whiff when LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading points champion. The game in which it happens will get not only a national but a global TV audience with ceremonies during and after.
With a gap of 260 points and at James’ 29.6 scoring average, it is likely James (38,104) will catch and pass Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) in the first half of February. That would enable the league to use All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City as “the perfect opportunity to honor him.”
It certainly will be a monumental moment for the NBA when James becomes the league’s all-time leading scorer. Silver’s plan to honor James on a global scale is an amazing thing to do for a player who has helped the league transcend outside of the United States.
It’s also good for fans who will surely want to watch along as James gets close. While the Lakers have a number of national TV games, there still a lot of people globally who don’t get to watch them night in and night and will get the chance in the coming weeks.
Hopefully the Lakers can start picking up some wins so those fans have more to cheer for other than just James breaking the record. Regardless though, that is an incredible accomplishment and one that will be worth celebrating in the coming weeks.
James says Lakers have ‘zero room for error’
Part of the reason the Lakers have struggled this season is because so many key players have been in and out of the lineup due to injury. With that being the case, James says the team has ‘zero room for error’ and needs to be better closing out games they have a chance to win.
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