AD had everyone laughing in the locker room with his tongue-in-cheek answer.
Los Angeles Lakers announcer Stu Lantz gave LeBron James another nickname: “Mr. Most.” After all, the NBA superstar accumulated “the most” out of everything, according to Lantz, including another scoring record on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks. “The King” passed Michael Jordan for the most 30-point games after the 119-102 win at Crypto.com arena. However, his teammate, Anthony Davis, wasn’t “happy” about it.
“It bothers me. It took him seven more seasons,” Davis jokingly replied to a question about whether he had any thoughts on James leapfrogging MJ in the category. “But no, I have known. When I’m growing up, I’m actually number one LeBron. That’s my era. So, it’s obviously a hell of an accomplishment. I think he’s probably number one at everything at this point, but I’ve been here long enough to witness so many accomplishments, man.”
“Definitely grateful to be here if he just wanna keep stacking,” added “The Brow.”
The question came from the fact that AD is from the Windy City. However, as Davis said, MJ’s 90’s domination wasn’t “his era.” The Lakers power-forward was born in 1993, the same year “His Airness” won a three-peat and retired to play baseball months later. When the Bulls legend returned and secured three more rings, Davis was only five years old.
Career leader in 30-point games
James came into Friday night’s game tied with Mike with 562 career 30-point games. When the smoke cleared against the Hawks, LBJ did enough, topping the 30-point mark to streak past behind Jordan. In a more recent context, that’s LeBron’s fourth 30-point outing over the past six games.
To break the record, the four-time champion connected on a tough left baseline fallaway jumper over the outstretched arms of Onyeka Okongwu. That bucket put the Lakers up 15 with over five minutes to play. Head coach JJ Redick then gave him a much-needed rest, and the rest of the team finished the job.
“It’s very humbling,” James said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Anytime I’m mentioned with any of the greats, and arguably the greatest ever to play the game, super cool. It’s someone I idolized in my childhood, and I wear 23 because of him. So to know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, when you mention MJ, it’s just super-duper dope for me, being a kid from where I’m from.”
Davis, who took time off against Portland last Thursday, returned to provide the interior presence once again for Los Angeles. He finished with 18 points, 19 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. James also added three rebounds and eight assists. Another least-mentioned record on the night was Bron moving past Dirk Nowitzki with 1,523 regular-season games under his belt.
Welcome change
The win over the Hawks was a welcome change for the Lakers on many levels. This was their eighth win in 11 games, moving them up to the fourth seed in a tight Western Conference after a Mavericks and Nuggets loss. More importantly, this has to be one of the first occasions where Bron broke a record and ended up winning a game.
“He might have to stop breaking records because we lose every time he breaks a record… I guess this one was more of a milestone than the record,” AD said after James moved past the 40,000-point barrier on March 2, 2024.
In that game, the Lakers lost badly to Denver, 124-114. When the four-time NBA MVP surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points scored all time, the Purple and Gold fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 133-130. The victory made Bron’s accomplishment that much sweeter. He played only 30 minutes, too, which is the least he has played since the December 4, 2024 loss to the Miami Heat.