LeBron James breaks down after beating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA scoring record

LeBron James has spoken out after breaking an all-time NBA record, outperforming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

On Tuesday, 7 February, the Los Angeles Lakers played against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In the game, James scored enough points to surpass the total held by Abdul-Jabbar for 39 years and has subsequently become the highest scoring NBA player in history.

Despite having recently spoken out about wishing he was slightly less recognisable so he could go to Starbucks and get his name written on a cup, the record is ultimately something he's 'always dreamed about'.

Prior to the game, James admitted how much of an achievement it would be to become the NBA player with the most points in history.

He said, as per the Mirror: "I think it’s one of the greatest records in sports in general. It’s one of those records that you just don’t ever see or think that would be broken."

The 38-year-old may have thought it would never be possible to break the record, but after an epic shot in the third quarter of Tuesday's game, James' total number of points came to 38,388 - creeping one higher than the score held by Abdul-Jabbar.

Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, released a statement soon after the game.

It reads: "Congratulations to LeBron on breaking one of the most hallowed records in all of sport... it's a towering achievement that speaks to his sustained excellence over 20 seasons in the league."

After being handed over a basketball by Abdul-Jabbar on the side of the court to mark the passing of the NBA record baton, James said: "Everybody that has ever been a part of this run with me the last 20-plus years, I want to say thank you so much because I wouldn't be me without all you. You all helped. Your passion and sacrifices helped me to get to this point.

"And to the NBA to Adam Silver, to the late great David Stern, thank you very much for allowing me to be a part of something I always dreamed about. I would never in a million years dreamt this to be even better than what it is tonight."

James' family addressed his record-breaking score in a video posted by NBACentral.

Savannah James, LeBron's wife, said: "Hi my love, I am here to congratulate you on becoming the NBA's all-time leading score. I am so proud of you, I witness day in and day out the hard work, the sacrifice, and the professionalism you put into this game every single day.

"I know how hard you work, I know this wasn't something you set out to do. But you've done it and you should congratulate yourself, you should celebrate yourself, you deserve all the flowers, you deserve all the respect and I just want to tell you how proud of you I am."

Topics: lebron james, Sport, Basketball, NBA, Celebrity

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.