LeBron James has been largely criticized this 2022-23 season for seemingly trying hard to chase Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record instead of helping the Los Angeles Lakers win games. The fact that the Purple and Gold continue to struggle despite James putting up big numbers has only fueled those talks even more.
However, James fired back at those criticisms and emphasized that winning has always been his priority. To further highlight his point and shut down those talks that he's merely stat-padding to finally break the NBA scoring record, he went back to last season when he decided to sit out their final five games instead of attempting to win the scoring title.
LeBron finished the 2021-22 campaign averaging 30.3 points per game, but he was not eligible for the scoring record after falling two games short of the minimum games required to be eligible for the honor. He sat out at the end of the season due to ankle injury, but had he opted to play at least two more and average 30 or more points, he could have gotten the scoring title in the bag.
Joel Embiid ended up with the scoring title after averaging 30.6 points per game.
“Me being out on the floor, trying to get the scoring [title] in games that don't matter, it felt so corny to me. So, I was like, I'm not even going [to play]. So that has never mattered to me unless it was about winning,” James said in his interview with Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
For what it's worth, LeBron James also said in the same interview that surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the scoring record has never been a goal of his. While he is really close now, he didn't really aimed for it considering that he has always been a pass-first guy.
Of course LeBron will always have his haters, and until he manages to get the Lakers to playoff contention amid their struggles this 2022, those stat-padding talks will continue. LA has won its last four games, though, and within striking distance for the Play-In spots.
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