Lebron James is an NBA player on the Los Angeles Lakers team since 2018. He is currently in his twentieth season of playing for the NBA and has recently hit a huge milestone. Just at the beginning of February, Lebron was recognized for surpassing Kareem Abdul Jabbar and breaking the all time scoring record that he set in 1984. 

Going into the game on February 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunders, Lebron only needed 36 points in order to surpass Kareem in his all time scoring record. Lebron was already having a good season scoring some pretty high double digits despite missing 11 games. It was clear that Lebron’s intention was to break the record as he scored 38 points that game, making a fadeaway jumper at the free throw line to be the new record holder. As of February 16, 2023 Lebron is at 38,411 career points surpassing Kareem’s total of 38,387 career points. 

Without a doubt, fans were excited about this huge milestone as he received many congratulations from teammates, other athletes and celebrities. There were many people there to watch, including his children Bronny and Bryce James, Denzel Washington, Bad Bunny, Jay Z, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar himself.

After breaking Kareem’s record Lebron stated, “Tonight, I actually felt like I was sitting on top of the arena when that shot went in, and the roar from the crowd. I’m not sure if I would be able to feel that feeling again, unless it’s a game-winning finals shot.”

Many memes have been made about Kareem because he seemed to have no reaction to Lebron breaking his record during the game. 

One meme states, “Kareem coming out of retirement to get his record back from Lebron” as he doesn’t look happy in the stands.

This has raised questions if Lebron deserves this title or if he should have chosen to break the record. Lebron has hinted at the direction of retiring soon, but would have eventually beaten the record. Times in the NBA were different for Kareem though. 3 point shots were invented only half way through Kareem’s career. That being said, Lebron has had his whole career full of 3 pointers and regular 2 point shots while Kareem had 2 pointers for half of his career. This means that if Lebron was around in Kareem’s time he wouldn’t have broken his record, or at least not at this point in his career. 

When asked about her feelings of Lebron being the new record holder, a star basketball player here at Regina said, “I feel that it was good for him, but I feel like he should be retired by now. I’m pretty sure Kareem set the record when he was younger than Lebron… so, it’s not really that impressive, but good for him.” 

Unquestionably, Lebron is a great player and has put a lot of hard work and dedication into the NBA. Is this huge accomplishment just a part of his career or is it the end of his NBA career?