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While Magic Johnson often doesn't hold back in calling out the Los Angeles Lakers whenever they play bad, he made sure to give credit to LeBron James on Saturday after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the all-time scoring record (including the playoffs).
The Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors, 117-115, but LeBron did go all out with 26 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists in the narrow defeat. In the process, he broke Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record of 44,149 points with 44,157.
“Congratulations to LeBron James for passing my showtime teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the new All-Time Leading Scorer for most combined regular season and postseason points in NBA history!” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
Of course, KAJ still owns the record for the most points in the regular season with 38,387, while the Lakers forward remains third with 36,526. In the regular season and playoffs record, LeBron edges Abdul-Jabbar in postseason points with 7,631 (via Basketball Reference).
LeBron James certainly still has a lot of work to do before he completely takes over the top spot of scoring greats. However, with the way he is playing, it's not an impossible feat to achieve.
While the Lakers continue to struggle—losing three straight and staying at the ninth seed in the West with a 26-31 record—James is averaging 29.0 points on 52 percent shooting from the field.
James' age is a big factor in whether he'll be able to beat the all-time regular season record, especially with Father Time obviously catching up to him as proven by the injuries he has endured recently. However, if there is one thing we have learned over the past decade or so, it's to never count LeBron out.
