“Where were you the night Lebron broke the all-time scoring record?”
It’s a question that’s going to be asked countless times. Over the next few days, the next few years, even the next few decades.
What’s my answer?
Well, I was in my tiny dorm room at UC Davis. Me and one of roommates huddled together over my phone screen, praying the Wi-Fi didn’t cut out (my other roommate was busy cramming for his chemistry final. Hope that test goes well T!). It was one of those moments that was just so surreal to witness. Funny enough, I didn’t even know Lebron broke the record, I thought the little scoreboard counter at the top of the screen was the amount needed to TIE the record. So I was a little confused when the arena exploded for the record tying shot. Safe to say I figured out what was actually happening pretty quick.
Maybe the reason the moment felt so surreal at first was because the game literally stopped to celebrate him. They legitimately paused the game to bring out Kareem and Adam Silver to present Lebron the ball he made the shot with. Then Lebron GAVE A FREAKING SPEECH. A speech that managed to be touching, respectful, and ended in perhaps the funniest way possible. As he came to the end, Lebron paused, struggling for the first time all night with the weight of the moment. He searched for the perfect words to perfectly encapsulate all of the unknowable emotions he was feeling. What’d he say?
This larger than life icon at the pinnacle of perhaps his greatest accomplish just took a second to take it all in. Pretty powerful stuff.
Fuck, man.
All of this with 10 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter.
Nobody really cares about the outcome of this game. This was a primetime matchup of the 12th and 13th seeds. Everything in the pre-game, post-game, and at the half centered around Lebron. Let’s face it, there was exactly one reason why everyone was watching. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the Thunder crew really didn’t care about all of this though. They rolled into LA and dropped 133 points on the Lakers’ heads and walked away with the W. On a night caught up in history, Oklahoma City stayed in the present, picking up a massive win to keep them in the playoff hunt. Enjoy OKC while they’re still plucky underdogs, they’ll be contenders sooner rather than later.
I really can’t commend the great Kareem Abdul-Jabar enough. He had the impossible task of watching what was believed to be an untouchable record get chipped away one shot at a time. All the while with a camera trained directly on him at all times, looking for any signs of annoyance or discomfort. And who can blame him if he was a little uncomfortable? He’s sitting in an arena full of people cheering like madmen as one of his proudest achievements slips away. And he handled it with the same grace and poise he’s exhibited his whole life. This was pretty funny though.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that when Kareem was coming up, 4 years of college was mandatory, and freshmen didn’t even play varsity their first season. So what did he do when got to play? Oh, just win the National Championship all three seasons he played at the varsity level at UCLA, and was so dominant the NCAA actually changed their rules to try and slow him down (it did not work). Kareem was drafted at 22. You let him enter the league at 18 like Lebron who knows how many points he scores. Especially with today’s advancements in sports science. Kareem was busting dude’s asses in Converse, playing three nights in a row, and his only rehab was an ice bath. This isn’t meant to be shade toward The King, just to pay respect to the Captain, the greatest center of all-time.
A picture really is worth a thousand words. Just a few of my favorite parts:
- The framing is perfect. Lebron, the basket, the fans, this is an all-time done justice with an all-time photo. Thank you Andrew Bernstein, the man behind many of the other most iconic photos in NBA history.
- Thomas Bryant (#31) calling for the ball. Admittedly, he has Shai sealed, but there was a zero percent chance that shot was going up from anybody not named Lebron James. As New York Times bestseller Shea Serrano so eloquently puts it: This is like the real life version of Space Jam when Jordan is dunking it from half court and Bill Murray shouts “i’m open”. I respect him so much for this.
- Kenrich Williams (the dude Lebron has now immortalized forever) looking up at the ball with what can only be described as the “oh shit” look
- Bronny and Bryce James sitting right below the basket, peeking over their phones and grinning, knowing damn well that shot’s hitting nothing but net.
- The look on the crowd’s faces, each one in various states of euphoria, each one holding up a phone to capture the moment. We’ve really moved past the era of lens flashes.
- The security guard in the red shirt missing one of the greatest shots in league history because he’s too busy doing his job. Give this man a promotion ASAP, you won’t find anyone more dedicated. He’s better then me
- Phil Knight sitting right next to the James’ kids, only person without a phone, just soaking in the moment. Maybe he’s thinking about all the money Lebron’s made him.
I’ve kinda run out of superlatives for the greatness of Lebron James. What more can be said? He’s never really had a prime, his prime has just been his entire career. Sure, he’s not playing defense like he used to, his effincincy is down, and his team isn’t winning, but the man is averaging 30-9-7 in his 20th year in the league. That’s just bananas. You pull his stat sheet by year, that shit is nearly identical. FOR 20 YEARS. His greatness gets overshadowed so often, because it’s just what we expect.
After tonight Lebron James is 1st in all-time points, 4th in all-time assists, and 9th in made threes. It’s just lunacy. There are zero holes in his offensive game. Zero.
I can’t think of another athlete that’s had to deal with the amount of pressure Lebron has been under since he was a kid. When this man was 16 he had ESPN nationally televising his games. Sports Illustrated ran a cover story about him where they literally called him “The Chosen One”. He had impossibly high expectations and somehow he managed to exceed all of them.
More impressively, despite having the world’s largest microscope on him at all times, he’s had zero major fuckups. Outside of defending the NBA’s position with China (and even that was blown out of proportion), Lebron has been nothing but a model citizen off the court. He’s been faithful to his wife, he’s been a great father to his kids, he’s opened schools, there hasn’t been a single word of negative press on Lebron’s personal life. Which is insane considering how many opportunities to fuck up. That mental toughness and maturity makes him a legendary figure just as much as his play does.
Nothing summarizes the greatness of The King like this tweet
From the time he was kid, nothing but greatness has been the expectation for Lebron James. And he’s delivered. Time and time again. We’ve become desensitized to it. So I’m taking tonight to appreciate it all.
My dad had Micheal, my grandpa had Kareem, and my generation has Lebron. I was born in 2004. Lebron entered the league in 2003.
I’ve had the highest highs of my life. I’ve had the lowest lows of my life. I’ve been great. I’ve fucked up. I’ve learned and grown. I’ve gone from a boy to a man. I’ve had the gift of existing on this planet for 18 years. And every single goddamn year of that, Lebron James has been arguably the best basketball player on the planet.
What else is there to say?
I kept hearing people, both commentators on TV and friends around me, saying that this record is going to be untouchable. No one will ever top whatever total Lebron finishes at. The same exact thing they said when Kareem passed Wilt Chamberlain. And the same exact thing they said when Wilt passed Bob Pettit. Records are made to be broken after all.
I don’t know when, but it’ll happen. There’s something beautiful about that I think, the impermanence of such a historic moment. We don’t know what the future holds, but tonight we all got to share a moment in history. If it ever gets passed or not it moot. It’ll never take away from the emotions of tonight, the memories we all share.
When Lebron gets passed I’m sure my kid will ask me where I was when Lebron set the record. No matter where the hell I end up in the future, that question will immediately put me back in that tiny ass dorm room. Back in that moment of joy and reverence, a perfect little moment. Each fan that gets asked that same question will have their own perfect little moment to recall. Their own special memory of the same experience. Isn’t that just so special
Fuck, man.
How can you not be romantic about basketball?
Ben Talks Ball 
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