Lakers' LeBron James: 'Humbling' to Be on Verge of Passing Karl Malone's Scoring Mark

Another day means another chance to reflect on the record books for LeBron James.

The Los Angeles Lakers great spoke with Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet after Friday's 128-123 overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors and discussed what it meant to move closer to Karl Malone for second place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

"Anytime I'm linked with the greats, it's very humbling," he said.

James finished Friday's contest with 36 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. He entered play 55 points behind Malone's mark of 36,928 points but is still well behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time total of 38,387.

The King is now a mere 19 points away from tying Malone and will likely pass him when the Lakers next take the floor for Saturday's game against the Washington Wizards.

As for the team, this was a much-needed victory. 

Los Angeles seemed well on its way to another loss, but Russell Westbrook's steal and game-tying three in the final seconds of regulation forced overtime. While it has been a frustrating season for the nine-time All-Star, he was excellent against the Raptors and ended up with a triple-double of 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while shooting 4-of-7 from deep.

The Purple and Gold improved to 30-40 overall and snapped a three-game losing streak and stretch where they went 3-12 in their previous 15.

It is a testament to how poor the bottom of the Western Conference is that they are still comfortably in the play-in tournament at the No. 9 seed and 3.5 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.

Still, if James keeps playing like he has all season and climbing up the record books, they will be a threat to beat any team on any given night.