Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton was one of the first people to congratulate LeBron James personally for his historic scoring feat on Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets.

Walton was quick to point out that this was no ordinary achievement, and that much credit needs to given where it is due:

Walton went on to say that, in his mind, what makes this achievement even more astonishing is the fact that LeBron has a pass-first mentality:

Walton pretty much hit the nail on the head here. It was truly an awe-inspiring feat by James, but at the same time, it is terribly unfortunate that it had to come in such disappointing circumstances.

Despite James' game-high 31 points on the evening, it would mean very little in the context of the ballgame, as the Nuggets came away with the victory, 115-99.

The Lakers were extremely shorthanded in this one, though, with Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Tyson Chandler, and Lonzo Ball all sitting out due to respective injuries. Nonetheless, LA cannot use this as an excuse, as they have now accumulated four losses in a row.

At this point, the slightest glimmer of hope for a potential postseason run appears to be off the table, as the Lakers have now fallen to six and a half games outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference with just 17 games remaining. It has indeed been a very rough season for the Lakers, and it seems that the year will unfortunately be ending on a sour note.