LeBron James defends against allegations of chasing records during losses in exclusive interview: "It felt so corny to me"

As LeBron James’ inevitable march to claiming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring crown draws near, accusations of stat-padding have only gotten louder. Some fans and a few basketball analysts have called him out for his seeming obsession with Abdul-Jabbar’s coveted place in history.

In an interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the four-time MVP is finally defending himself against these accusations:

“So as we sit here right now as a franchise and as a team that's below .500 - we've been playing some good basketball as of late, but we want to and I want to win at the highest level. Breaking records or setting records or passing greats in a losing effort has never been a DNA of mine.

"Me being out on the floor, trying to get the scoring [title] in games that don't matter, it felt so corny to me. So, I was like, I'm not even going [to play]. So that has never mattered to me unless it was about winning."

LeBron and Kareem have almost the exact same number of points and minutes.

Here's a look at their scoring averages broken into 10,000 minute chunks.

LeBron is catching Kareem because of an absurd and unparalleled ability to sustain his scoring. https://t.co/NyT7JoTUqm

The accusations have come particularly in blowout wins or losses. On several occasions over the past two seasons, LeBron James has still been on the floor when the outcome has already been decided.

Skip Bayless has repeatedly pointed this out and has ripped the four-time champ for his supposedly shameless chase of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The 18x All-Star, however, countered this by recalling the events of last season. James decided not to play when the Lakers had already been eliminated from playoff contention. He argued that he could still have put up meaningless points if his goal was to simply hoard buckets.

He contends that the intention was never to go after Abdul-Jabbar's historic record when he jumped from high school to the NBA. For a pass-first player, the scoring record was, according to him, an afterthought:

"I have not set out to do that, like a goal of mine when I entered the league. ... The scoring record was never, ever thought of in my head because I have always been a pass-first guy."

LeBron James is now just 459 points from overtaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

LeBron James is less than 500 points off Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record. [photo: Los Angeles Times]

On April 5, 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA's all-time scoring leader. By the time he retired after the 1988-89 season, he had amassed a mind-boggling 38,387 career points. It is a record that many thought would remain untouched.

Nearly 40 years later, LeBron James is set to dethrone "Cap" as the NBA's all-time scoring champ. After dropping 25 points against the Atlanta Hawks last night, "King James" is just 459 points [37,928] off the coveted record [38,387].

The soon-to-be 19x All-Star is averaging 28.9 points this season. But if he hits his career average of 27.2 PPG moving forward, he would need just 18 games to reset the scoring record.

If LeBron James keeps up his average of 29 PPG this season, he is projected to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record some time in February 🧐

2/4 at Pelicans
2/7 vs. Thunder
2/9 vs. Bucks
2/11 at Warriors https://t.co/xyyb1WGvvF

LeBron James could make history around the second week of February. Regardless of who the opponent may be, it will be must-see TV when that happens.

However, grabbing the record against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 11 will be a script Hollywood could not have written.

Here's the full ESPN interview with LeBron James