In the game against San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James reached the landmark of 30,000 career points as the seventh player in NBA history. Despite his defeat, he then took a moment to reflect.
With 28 points against the Spurs, James became the youngest player ever to break through 30,000 points. James is 33 years and 24 days old, previously Kobe Bryant (34 years, 104 days) was the first to reach this mark. The other five 30,000 point players are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki.
“I just started thinking about my journey from a child who picked up a basketball at the age of 5 and started playing organized basketball at the age of 9 to this point. I have a lot of people to thank for that.”
James emphasized once again that scoring was never his top priority,”This is something I had never set myself as a goal. I’m not even someone who wants to score first in basketball. I love to involve my team mates and see how they get points after passes from me.”
James had already congratulated his “young me” for reaching the milestone on Tuesday in an instagram post during the day, saying he felt he had difficulty enjoying his own successes:”I’m just looking forward to one day looking back on my career with my family over a glass of wine and talking about all the things I’ve achieved.”.
“I even tried to freak myself out with the instagram post today. I was trying to make myself take some time. I don’t know how to do that. I’ve never done it before – at 25,000 or 20,000 points, MVPs or championships – just sit back and appreciate the trip I’ve made. I don’t want to do that either, because I don’t want to leave the path I’m on.”