It’s official. On Tuesday night at Staples Center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar passed the crown to fellow Laker LeBron James as the new NBA’s all-time scoring leader, a record he held for nearly four decades since April 1984.
Nevertheless, the two gold-and-purple greats have had their disputes in the past such as over the use of an athlete’s social platform, COVID-19 vaccinations, and more.
The Hall of Famer, six-time NBA champ, and 19-time All-Star was in attendance on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena, lending his support for James for his accomplishment. James surpassed Abdul Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points with a jumper with 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter against the Thunder.
The game stopped for a ceremony in which commissioner Adam Silver and Abdul-Jabbar honored James as the Lakers legend handed a basketball over to James in a passing-the-torch moment.
“Just want to say thank you to the Laker faithful, you guys are one of a kind,” James said in a tearful address to the Los Angeles crowd. “To be in the presence of a legend and one of the greatest such as Kareem is humbling. Give a standing ovation to the captain, please.
“Everybody that’s ever been a part of this run for the last 20 years, I just want to say thank you. … F–k, man… thank you guys!”
Before the historic night, Abdul-Jabbar hasn’t always had kind words for the King. He has said that some of James’ actions are “beneath him” and are ones “he should be embarrassed about.”
In reference to an in-game celebration of James’ in December, he said in a video on Substack, “For me, winning is enough. Why do you need to do a stupid, childish dance and disrespect the other team on the court? It doesn’t make sense. GOATs don’t dance.”
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The fellow 19-time All-Star, four-time NBA Finals MVP, and four-time NBA champ, had nothing but kind words to say about Abdul-Jabbar to ESPN’s Michael Wilbon on Tuesday.
“It’s still mind-boggling to myself … I’ve never said I wanted to lead the league in scoring or, for sure, never said I wanted to be the all-time leader in scoring,” he said. “That’s never been a dream of mine, and to sit here and actually be on the brink of it happening, it’s pretty crazy.”
“For me to be in the company with such a prominent, dominant force like Kareem was, it’s an honor,” he added.
At 38, James has shown zero signs of aging, as he is averaging 30 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game. In Abdul-Jabbar’s 1984 season, in which he broke Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record, he posted 21.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.
