Lakers' LeBron James: Winning Is Priority After Passing Karl Malone on Scoring List
LeBron James passed Karl Malone on the all-time scoring list Saturday night, but his Los Angeles Lakers also lost to the Washington Wizards, 127-119.
That seemed to make the night a bittersweet one for James, as he expressed to reporters:
"Winning is what's most important to me and what's always been most important to me. But the one thing I've been able to do is keep the joy of the game. I understand that we're taking a lot of losses this season and whatever the case may be. But the joy of the game and going out there and competing is so damn fun."
"And obviously, the frustration of losing and things of that nature, obviously, in the heat of the battle, you feel it that way; but it's a joy to play the game, and it's a joy to go out there and play at this level at this point in my career, so I'm still having a blast."
James, who scored 38 points in the loss while passing Malone on the all-time list (36,928), is now up to 36,947 career points. The only player in NBA history with more is fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), whom James now trails by 1,440 points.
James said Saturday he wasn't focused on catching the Hall of Fame center at this point:
It's a record James will almost assuredly break next season, however, barring injury. He's failed to score 1,440 points in a season just once—last year—when he only played in 45 games. And the Lakers still have 11 games remaining this season.
But the team's playoff lives remain at stake. The Lakers are just 30-41, ninth in the Western Conference. If the season ended today, the Lakers would be facing the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament, and if they won that contest, they'd be facing the loser of the Los Angeles Clippers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves matchup.
All of that just to get into the playoffs, where either the Memphis Grizzlies or Golden State Warriors likely would be waiting in the first round.
And it remains to be seen when Anthony Davis will return to the Lakers from a sprained foot, or if he'll be available for either the play-in tournament or the actual playoffs if the Lakers qualify.
It's been a pretty miserable season for the Lakers, but James' record-setting night will at least bring a little joy to the team. Getting Davis back and managing to go on a deep playoff run, however unlikely that feels at this point, would bring even more.
