LeBron James made history in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on Thursday. James needed to make three field goals on the night to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and become the NBA’s all-time leader in field goals made, and he accomplished it in the first quarter itself.
James hit a turnaround fadeaway jump shot over Nuggets center Zeke Nnaji with 11.8 seconds remaining to get to the top. That’s a shot we have seen the 41-year-old nail time after time over the years, and he was asked in his postgame media session about it being the one that made history.
“I mean, it’s one of my patented shots,” James said, via Spectrum SportsNet. “It’s something I worked on throughout my career. So, to be able to have that ability to make that shot, it’s pretty cool.”
James was then asked about adding that shot to his bag, and he revealed he started working on it after going through arguably the lowest point of his professional career.
“Losing in the Finals to Dallas and playing like s***,” James stated. “… Everything in the post. Going to see Hakeem [Olajuwon]. Put in that work and then throughout that whole season… Continued to dial in on that throughout the rest of my career.”
It is not often that you can point the finger at James for his team’s failings, but he was primarily responsible for the Miami Heat’s shocking loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals. The Heat were the clear favorites in that series, but the best player in the world at the time failed to deliver.
James averaged just 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game against the Mavericks. He infamously only had eight points in the Heat’s Game 4 loss and was put on blast after the Mavericks won the series in six games.
James’ critics were out in full force and claimed he’d never win a title. He had, of course, failed to win one in his first seven seasons in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. James then chose to “stack the deck in his favor” by going to the Heat in 2010 to form a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. It had seemed inevitable he’d finally win that first championship in 2011, but it wasn’t to be.
Following that defeat at the hands of the Mavericks, James realized he needed to add to his game. He wanted to improve as a post player and reached out to one of the best to ever do it, Hakeem Olajuwon.
James trained with Olajuwon in the offseason, and it proved to be one of the best decisions he ever made. Improving that facet of his game made him all the more difficult for teams to deal with.
James would go on to lead the Heat to back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. He got the monkey off his back, and more success would follow in the years to come. James won his third title with the Cavaliers in 2016 and his fourth with the Lakers in 2020. He has now thrust himself into that GOAT debate, and a growing number believes he is the best to ever do it.
Passing Abdul-Jabbar for the most field goals made in NBA history is just the latest feather in James’ cap. He has now made 15,842 field goals, compared to 15,837 for the Hall of Famer.
James would end this night with 16 points (7-11 FG), five rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and one block. He was unable to finish the game, as he suffered a left elbow injury in the fourth quarter.
James spoke about passing Abdul-Jabbar and also his injury postgame. The 22-time All-Star admitted the elbow feels pretty sore, but is hopeful it’ll get better soon.
The Lakers dropped to 37-25 with this loss to the Nuggets and will take on the Indiana Pacers next at Crypto.com Arena on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET. You wonder if James will be able to play against the Pacers because of this elbow problem.
