LeBron James has been in hot pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record. The Los Angeles Lakers forward may still be about 500 points shy of that mark, but he did break a different points record on his birthday on December 30th.
LeBron turned back the clock for a masterful performance in a win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. King James poured in 47 points and 10 rebounds while being just one assist shy of a triple-double. His point total gave him 303 career points during his birthday, which gives him the most in NBA history after passing Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.
With his 20th point tonight, LeBron James has 276 points on his birthday in his career.
Who doesn’t want to put on a show on their birthday, after all? The Lakers star does get a bit of an edge given that he has a birthday right in the thick of the NBA regular season. Despite delayed starts during the 2011 lockout season and the post-NBA bubble 2020-21 season, his special day still wasn’t skipped over. In just those two seasons, he poured in 34 and 26 points, respectively.
There are also several all-time scorers who have their birthdays either deep in the playoffs like Carmelo Anthony in May or during the offseason like Kobe Bryant in August.
It may not be that massive of a distinction, but it does prove that LeBron James can still turn it up when he needs to. There’s no better way to end the year for the Lakers than with a win and they needed every ounce of LeBron’s energy to pull it off.
Source: dailylifeworld.com
