Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James became the most prolific scorer in NBA history on Feb. 7 in a matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, breaking the record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for nearly 39 years.
James, who needed 36 points heading into the game to break the record, sank a trademark fadeaway jump shot leaning to his left to record his 38,388th career regular-season point during the final minute of the third quarter.
Abdul-Jabbar was in attendance, and after the record-breaking shot, the game was immediately paused in order to allow for a special tribute video for the man who was once deemed “The Chosen One” as a high school junior.
James, 38, is now in his 20th season as a pro and has been teammates with a plethora of great basketball players throughout that time.
Joe Smith, a Maryland basketball legend and former first overall selection in the NBA Draft, was one of James’ teammates when both were members of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The pair shared the court in Northeast Ohio for parts of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons (48 games in total), prior to James winning any NBA championships.
“I felt very, very confident that he would win some titles,” Smith said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 8. “Now the scoring, because of the way he played and how unselfish he is with the basketball, you know how he loves to get his teammates involved. I didn’t think he would get the scoring record. That’s why I’m so proud of him and so happy that I was a part of that journey with him because that’s something that I don’t think anybody saw at that time.”
James’ unselfishness on the court has been a topic of criticism throughout his career. Along with being the league’s all-time leading scorer, he is also currently fourth on the all-time regular-season assists chart.
For reference, of the remaining players who comprise the top 10 in all-time scoring, James is the only player who also ranks in the top 30 on the assists ladder.
“His unselfishness is very unappreciated,” Smith said. “I heard a lot of stuff throughout his career about him passing up shots or him not putting himself in a position to take final shots or being the one to take the final shot and things like that, but I feel in my opinion that he was just making the best basketball play at that time and in that given moment, and it was up to the [teammate] to be able to knock down that shot.”
James became the scoring king during his 1,410th career regular-season game, 150 fewer games than Abdul-Jabbar played during his illustrious career. James has been able to avoid major injuries during his 20 NBA seasons.
Smith shared his perspective on how James has been so durable for so long.
“It’s incredible and it goes back to the year that I played with him,” Smith said. “I really noticed how he took care of his body, how he worked out all the time and the things he did off the court and how he ate and how he really, really, really took care of his body.”
“Normally about this time in someone’s career they’re dealing with a knee injury or something that’s kind of starting to fall apart a little bit, but with LeBron, the way he’s taking care of his body and how he’s done throughout the years, I think that was really a credit to how he’s playing now,” Smith added.
Dubbed “The Chosen One” on an iconic Sports Illustrated magazine cover in 2002, LeBron James has been under a microscope for a very long time. After being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and being drafted No. 1 overall directly out of high school, James had a world of pressure on him to perform from the start.
James was raised only by his mother, Gloria, because his father had a lengthy criminal record and was not involved in James’ life. Smith credited Gloria for how James has carried himself despite being in a constant spotlight.
“I credit that to his mom and his upbringing because he came into the league mature beyond his years,” Smith said. “We all knew about the talent that he had on the basketball court, but he was mentally more mature than any other 18, 19 year-old that was coming into the NBA at that time. … LeBron has always been a team-first-type guy, a guy that always loves to see his teammates succeed, obviously his coaches succeed and obviously everybody around him succeed and that’s the way he carries himself off the court.”
For more from Smith, listen to the full interview here: