LeBron James Says It Was 'Humbling' to Break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Scoring Record

LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will now be forever linked after James surpassed the Basketball Hall of Famer to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer on Tuesday night.

Speaking to reporters about his historic moment after the Los Angeles Lakers' 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, James called it "very humbling" to be in the presence of Abdul-Jabbar.

After the record-breaking basket in the third quarter, Abdul-Jabbar joined James on the court to give him a basketball in a symbolic passing of the torch.

There was some uncertainty about whether Abdul-Jabbar would be present when James broke the record.

Abdul-Jabbar has been critical of some things James has said in the past. The Lakers legend wrote an entire post on his Substack that was critical of James' stance on the COVID-19 vaccine:

"I'm a huge fan of LeBron James, both as one of the greatest basketball players ever and as a humanitarian who cares about social injustice. I have written his praises many times in the past and undoubtedly will in the future. I admire him and have affection for him. But this time LeBron is just plain wrong—and his being wrong could be deadly, especially to the Black community."

The post was in response to James saying publicly in September 2021 he received the COVID-19 vaccine, but he was initially "skeptical" and didn't want to use his platform to push others to get vaccinated.

"We're talking about individuals' bodies," James explained. "We're not talking about something that's political or racism or police brutality and things of that nature. We're talking about peoples' bodies and well-beings. I don't feel like, for me personally, that I should get involved in what other people should do for their bodies and their livelihoods. It would be me, talking about somebody, if they should take this job or not. Listen, you have to do what's best for you and your family, if they should relocate. You have to do what's best for your family."

Three months later, James posted a meme on Instagram comparing COVID-19, a common cold and the flu.

Abdul-Jabbar once again responded in a post on his Substack that was titled, "Dear LeBron: Here's the COVID-19 Help You Requested in Your Spider-Man Meme."

"By posting the uninformed meme, LeBron has encouraged vaccine hesitancy which puts lives and livelihoods at risk," Abdul-Jabbar wrote.

In April 2022, Abdul-Jabbar was critical of some things that James has done over the course of his career and accused him of "standing on both sides of the fence" on important social issues when his voice could have a profound impact.

Abdul-Jabbar did back down from that stance, saying his past criticisms were "in the spirit of a loving older brother offering guidance, whether wanted or not" and his "respect and admiration has only grown for LeBron as I watched him champion worthwhile causes while maintaining his status as an elite athlete."

The two NBA legends were able to bury the hatchet on Tuesday night in celebration of James' historic moment. Another such torch-passing may not happen again for some time, considering Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leading scorer for 39 years.

James' 38,390 points are 11,706 more than the No. 2 active scorer (Kevin Durant). The 38-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down with a scoring average of 30.2 points per game this season.