LeBron passes Chamberlain in Lakers win
LEBRON James poured on 44 points to leapfrog Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA’s all-time scoring rankings on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 126-117.
James’ highest points haul since joining the Lakers saw him vault over Chamberlain into fifth place on the scoring rankings, leaving him with 31,425 points from his career.
Lakers legend Kareem AbdulJabbar is the NBA’s all-time points leader with 38,387 points, followed by Karl Malone (36,928) and Kobe Bryant (33,643) with Michael Jordan one place ahead of James at 32,292.
James’s standout night at the Staples Center saw him come within a whisker of a triple double, with the Lakers star finishing with 10 rebounds and nine assists in addition to his 44 points.
The 33-year-old made a point of snaffling the game ball after the buzzer sounded on what was a fourth straight victory for the Lakers, who improved to 8-6 to move up to seventh in the Western Conference standings.
James later paid tribute to Chamberlain when asked to reflect on passing the Lakers icon.
“One of the most dominant forces we ever had in our game, along with Shaq [O’Neal], one of the greatest Lakers to play the e game,” James said. d.
“I’m I’m just happy we got another win. n. But any time my y name is mentioned ned with some of the e greats, I always think back ck to my home town and how w far I’ve come. That’s it for me.” e.”
Ja a mes, who h a d expressed pressed frustration earlier rlier in the season n after the Lakers slow start to the e campaign, said he believes the team is gradually heading g in the right direction. ection. “It’s still a process for us,” us, James said. “We “W want to try and an get better ever every day. And I believ believe we’ve done that tha since the start of o training camp. “We’ve got bette better since Septembe September and into October, Octobe and now we’ve got go better in Novembe November. We just want to try tr and continue it.”
The on ly dow nsid nside for t he L a ker s c a me m wit h a n injur y to Rajon Rajo Rondo, who f ac e s at a least t wo weeks on t he h sidel i nes a f ter su f fer- fer i ng a broken ha nd.
“It’s tough,” said James. “He’s one of our leaders. But it’s next man up.”
James’ dominant performance also extended to defence. He led the Lakers with three blocks and a steal in addition to his haul of points and assists.
JaVale McGee supported James with 20 points, while fellow starters Brandon Ingram (17) and Lonzo Ball (11) also weighed in with double-digit tallies. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13 from the bench.
Portland, who fell to 10-4 with the defeat, were led by Damian Lillard with 31 points. C.J. McCollum had 23 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 21.