James expresses thanks to Jordan

From the very first day LeBron James picked up a basketball, he wanted to be like Mike.

James and his closest friends idolized Michael Jordan while they grew up together on Akron’s competitive playgrounds and tough streets. As James grew into a tantalizing basketball prospect capable of jumping from high school to the NBA as the No. 1 draft pick, he studied, imitated and drew profound inspiration from Jordan’s tongue-wagging dunks, that fadeaway jumper, his competitive fire — even the little details of the way Jordan wore his sneakers and shorts.

James proudly put No. 23 on his back as soon as he could get it as a high school sophomore.

“He was everything,” James said.

When James surpassed Jordan’s career points total Wednesday night, he did it in a pair of Nikes with “Thank You M.J.” written neatly on the side. That tribute doesn’t begin to encompass what Jordan meant to a youngster who dreamed of a better life.

“You guys have no idea what M.J. did for me and my friends growing up,” James said. “Some days where you just don’t feel like you’re going to make it to the next day where I grew up, because of everything that’s going on. Like I wrote on my shoes today, I thank M.J. more than he would ever know. I’ve got to carry it on to the next kid. Hopefully I can inspire the next kid.”

James moved past Jordan into fourth on the NBA’s career scoring list in the Lakers’ 115-99 loss to the Nuggets, bettering Jordan’s 32,292 career points.