LeBron James sets another record in the NBA with the Lakers defeating the Kings
Sacramento — Midway through the first quarter Thursday night, LeBron James played against the Sacramento Kings, heading to the City bench where he played his first regular-season NBA minute in more than 21 years.
This will be his last time off the field before he achieves another milestone. By the time his next shift ended in the second quarter, he had passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most minutes logged in a regular season, breaking the previous record of 57,446 minutes.
“I think it’s just a commitment to the craft and the passion and the love that I have for the game,” James said of his accomplishment of clocking more than 957 hours in professional basketball.
However, after all this time, James is capable of making winning plays – his chasing block, key defensive stop and ball-bullying dagger all play a role in helping the Lakers defeat the Kings. 113-100.
Austin Reeves was the Lakers’ top scorer with 25 points, and James added 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists. He finished the match with 57,471 minutes after playing 34 minutes.
“I’ve been able to do it at a high level for two decades,” James said. “And to continue to put myself in the record books in the game of basketball that I love so much and in the best league in the world is amazing and very humbling.”
Despite the slow shooting night, Anthony Davis dominated with 21 points, four assists, 18 rebounds and six steals, his highest this season. Davis also had three steals.
“He was exceptional tonight,” Redick said. “That shows you how elite a player he is that he can go seven-on-20 nights and still dominate a basketball game.”
The minutes log comes at a time when the Lakers and James have been in close touch with how much he’s played (and hasn’t played). James missed two games and spent a week away from the team, getting a mental and physical reset after his left foot started bothering him.
He returned Sunday against Memphis and had noticeably more energy on both ends of the court. Coach JJ Redick said the team could look for other opportunities to give the soon-to-be 40-year-old more rest.
Speaking before the match, James said he could be more open to it than ever before.
“I’m not a guy that likes to play games if you’re fairly healthy. It doesn’t matter. It’s never been my thing,” James said when asked about it. “If there’s an opportunity where it can benefit my body and benefit my game down the stretch Long for the team, I’m always open to having that conversation. So we’ll see what happens.”
The Lakers, who had three days off since their last game, had plenty of energy, and used it against the Kings to take an early 14-point lead thanks to their much-improved defense.
With the Kings playing transition defense, the Lakers were able to create plenty of open looks from the perimeter, making seven threes in the first quarter alone.
The game heated up in the second half, as the Kings took the lead before the Lakers’ best players took control.
Reaves got to the goal line and hit big shots. Davis beat Domantas Sabonis, a player he has now bested in two straight matches. James controlled the match without controlling its course. Gabe Vincent, who has struggled shooting the ball since joining the Lakers, hit four three-pointers.
But defensively, the Lakers continued to play their best basketball, holding opponents to 100 points or fewer for the third time in four games.
“I really felt like this might have been my favorite win we had all season just because we weren’t efficient offensively,” Redick said. “But because we broke down, because we limited them to transition, we limited them to one shot — like all the things that we preached that you give yourself a chance to win every night if you have a choppy night of shooting and an off — an offensive night — we did tonight.
James said he wasn’t thinking about what his accomplishment means for the future, not even in regards to Saturday’s game against the Kings in Sacramento.
“I set the record in just minutes,” he said with a smile. “I’m not thinking about this next game yet. I’m about to get into this room, drink some wine, play some Madden and relax…”
Soon there will be another game and more minutes to play, and anything that works, well, it works.