LeBron James now stands alone atop the NBA history books after burying a fadeaway jumper from the elbow in the final minute of the third quarter on Tuesday night, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the league’s all-time scoring leader.
James raised his arms in triumph, jogged to the other end of the court, then waved his family members onto the court while the crowd chanted “MVP,” and Jabbar looked on from courtside at the NBA’s new scoring king.
As BT watched, he could only think about how James and such celebrations have soured historic accomplishments in pro sports, and look no further than the Laker legend watching the celebration from in front of the scorer’s table after James sank that historic bucket.
“When Kareem broke the mark against Utah Jazz…he was swarmed by his teammates, and how it was a ‘we’ thing, and it was an accomplishment that was shared by everybody,” BT said. “And Kareem was seemingly reticent to be front and center and propelled to, you know, a part of the stage that that made him uncomfortable. He just wanted to keep it going, keep it moving, and his teammates shared and basked in the moment with him. Did you see what LeBron James did?
“Last night was a really interesting, I think, reminder of how far we've fallen as a sporting society, and this might seem like a strange take the day after he busted a 40-year mark. Great player, but I just can't help as I watched this and I watched it again this morning. LeBron, an isolated figure, hands up, look at me, all about me, look at me, it's all about me…he was more interested in dapping up the celebrities than sharing the moment with his teammates. And that just bothers me.”
Undeniably among the pantheon of the greatest players in NBA history, BT isn’t denying James’ greatness on the court, but he believes his reaction to becoming the new scoring king fell a little short of past legends.
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