Few NBA players have thrown birthday celebrations quite like LeBron James did Friday night.
The Lakers forward, celebrating his 38th trip around the sun, put on a show against the Hawks in Atlanta to close out 2022. In 40 minutes of action, he exploded for 47 points—his most since last season, when he dropped 50 on Mar. 11 against the Wizards—to go with 10 rebounds and nine assists; Los Angeles won 130–121.
James’s virtuoso performance drew acclaim from across the NBA world, including legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose all-time scoring record is drawing within the King’s sights.
“Happy birthday, LeBron,” Abdul-Jabbar tweeted. “38 is the new 38,388.”
Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 career points in 20 seasons with the Bucks and Lakers.
James, in his 20th season in an illustrious career split between the Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers, has 37,860 career points, putting him 527 off of Abdul-Jabbar’s immortal mark.
The relationship between the two icons has been, at times, tempestuous. Its progress bears watching as James, at his current scoring pace, figures to break the record in early February.
