LOS ANGELES – The Lakers head to Sacramento this weekend, lebron james James, who needed fewer than 500 points to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record of 38,397 points, reflected on his first NBA points win at home to the Kings.
“I knew I was ready for the moment,” James said in an exclusive ESPN interview on Friday. I didn’t know what to do, and I was so nervous, I didn’t know what the first bucket was going to be like.”
Three minutes and four seconds into the first NBA game on October 29, 2003, James had his first NBA shot.
“Some shots are really difficult,” James said. “But I was excited and very nervous. I was nervous and I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to disappoint people.”
Since then, James has only racked up achievements and points. He is in tears as he approaches Abdul-Jabbar’s record. He’s averaged 33.7 points on his 57.8% shooting percentage over the last 12 games, and on Friday night he shot 10-of-19 in the 130-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks. In success rate he scored 25 points.
Not bad for a man who has long insisted he’s not a scorer.
“I mean, I know how to get the ball in the hole,” James said. “When I say I am not a scorer, I mean it in the sense that it was not part of my game that defined me. Standing to see what was going on, the great Kareem was able to accomplish such a thing.
“But I’ve never felt that way, so I won’t argue.”
Abdul-Jabbar has held the torch as the league’s top scorer since April 5, 1984 (almost nine months before James, who turned 38 last month).
Unlike Abdul-Jabbar, whose iconic skyhook is frozen in time like a statue outside the Crypto.com arena, James said picking one move from his offensive repertoire was not an obvious choice. said.
“It’s not that I have a characteristic one-legged dark [Nowitzki] Fedaway or Patented Michael Jordan Fedaway or Kareem Skyhook or [Hakeem Olajuwon] Dream Shake,” James said.
While James still plays above the rim as his career progresses, his team no longer plays near the top of the standings. After missing the playoffs, they went 18-21 and finished 12th in the Western Conference.
“I want to win. [The losing is] It doesn’t work,” James said. …so we’re sitting here as a franchise and as a team under .500, so even though we’re playing good basketball these days, we want to win at the highest level. It was never in my DNA to break records, to set records, to pass greats in an effort. ”
To explain his claims, James explained why Los Angeles decided to sit out the last five games of last season to rehabilitate an ankle injury after already dropping out of postseason contention. A season to qualify as top scorer. James averaged 30 points per game in his 19th season.
“I’m on the floor trying to score Lakers’ LeBron James talks pursuit of scoring record, staying great at 38 It felt so corny to me for an unrelated game.so i wasn’t going [to play]” he said.
It’s been 10 years since he won four regular season MVPs in 2013, but James still faces opposing defenses preparing to stop him as one of the best players in the league. I am proud.
“Being able to go out and be the focus of my opponent’s scout reports lets me know I’m still playing at a high level.” I want to be respected every time I touch the floor as a threat while playing.”
James has two years left on his Lakers deal. He has repeatedly expressed hope that the Lakers can find a way to build a more competitive team around him for the demise of his career, but he puts it above all else. I have another goal.
“I need to be on the court with my son. rice field. -25 seasons under the rules of current collective bargaining agreements.
James has previously expressed this desire, saying he wants to be teammates with his son in the league. However, he adjusted that stance slightly on Friday.
“Either you wear the same jersey or you play against him. It doesn’t mean you like him. [guarding one another all game] “He’s a point guard and I’m playing center right now or whatever the team needs me to do. Stuff. That would certainly be ideal.”
James said he and Bronnie aren’t actively discussing that potential future, but he also knows his son is interested.
“When I ask him what his dream is for the future, he says he wants to play in the NBA. “So if he wants to do it, he has to work. I’m just there.”
And there’s one more first NBA bucket for the James family to strain together.
Referring to his career point total, James laughed, “He’s got a long way to go to get to me.
