Michael Jordan He occupies a pedestal that few dispute within American basketball. His absolute dominance on the field Six titles with the Chicago Bulls And the global influence it exerted during the 1990s made it an elusive reference for millions of fans.
LeBron JamesHowever, he extended his career by two decades with performances that pushed him to challenge that hierarchy. Both matches are measured using a magnifying glass, and Each character is compared to a legendary figure 23. This symbolic rivalry has accompanied every mark the Los Angeles Lakers forward has reached, including the one he just closed.
An assist that broke an impossible streak
interrupted James A The line has been kept alive since January 6, 2007. During 1297 regular league matches Score at least ten pointsThis is an unprecedented record in the NBA. The series concluded with the Lakers’ 123-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors, where the player played He finished the game with eight points, six rebounds, and eleven assists.
The incident was not a response to an isolated poor performance, but rather to a choice that summed up his playing philosophy. On the final possession, with the score tied, he picked it up Giving the ball to a wide open player instead of looking for a personal shotwhich is a more dangerous option when there is a defender on top.
His colleagues interpreted this decision as a gesture loyal to his career. Axis Jake Laravia He stated that he is a “selfless player”. He added, “He had the opportunity, but because of his condition he decided to pass the ball to Roy and we won the match.” Austin Reeves He agreed with that reading and considered that James “only thinks about winning and making the right decision, which is what he did throughout his career.”
The decisive moment came when James received the ball in the final seconds. With enough room to shoot, he decided to attend Rui HachimuraWho scored the decisive hat-trick in the left corner. The play secured the Lakers’ victory It ended the longest scoring streak in league history. James raised his arms when he saw the ball go in, realizing he had just given up his personal record to secure the win. The winger celebrated the basket while his teammates surrounded Hachimura, marking the first time in his entire career that he did not score the winning basket.
A record he maintains at a level no one has yet reached
The discrepancy with NBA historical records underscores the magnitude of the record. Michael Jordan recorded 866 consecutive games in double figures, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reached 787 and Karl Malone added 575.. None of them came close to the number achieved by James, who extended that gap to nearly 19 years. The sequence was even extended to qualifying matches 865 postseason games over 10 points. In fact, in his entire extensive career, he has done just that It fell below 10 points on nine occasions. Despite its end, the number maintains an unprecedented dimension within professional basketball.
Subsequent explanations have maintained a calm tone. “You just have to make the right play. You always make the right play and we won,” LeBron James said. He remembered that He learned this principle early in his career. And who followed him at every stage. Coach JJ Riddick He supported this opinion and stressed that “LeBron is fully aware of his points, but he did this like many times before.” He added that ““The basketball gods usually reward those who behave this way.”.
The development of the last minutes made clear the outcome of the match. James returned to the court with just over five minutes remaining and scored six points after an erratic series of shots. He tied the score on a corner kick with less than two minutes remaining and missed a mid-range shot that would have kept him on the line.
On the next possession, Reeves went for it again, but James picked up the game-winning layup. That play summed up an entire career built on the same choice: Winning by making the right play, even when it means missing a personal record.