Watch: LeBron James practices Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook during pre-game routine
LA Lakers superstar LeBron James could be seen making preparations to make history ahead of the game against the OKC Thunder. As the "King" prepares to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record, James practiced Kareem's signature skyhook.
Tuesday night's game holds a lot of value from a historic standpoint. With only 36 points separating him from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record, James will chase down history against the OKC Thunder.
James also plans to do so in a flamboyant fashion by the looks of it. The Lakers superstar was seen practicing the skyhook during his pre-game routine.
The sheer excitement this presents is hard to encapsulate. With a wide array of shots that James could use to break the scoring record, LeBron using Kareem's signature skyhook would certainly be momentous.
LeBron practicing Kareem’s signature move before tonight’s game 👀
(@michaelcorvoNBA)
https://t.co/3M3gE2gKrR
Apart from the primary task at hand, which appears to be chasing down history, James will also attempt to prevent his team from losing yet another game. At 25-29 on the season, the LA Lakers are far from being in a desirable spot.
With only 27 games left in the season following Tuesday night’s game, the Lakers will need every win they can get. However, as LeBron attempts to keep the Lakers’ playoff aspirations alive, the NBA will still have their eyes set on his historical achievements.
LeBron James becomes the NBA’s leading scorer
In the third-quarter of Tuesday night’s game against the OKC Thunder, LA Lakers superstar LeBron James made history at the Crypto.com Arena. Racking up 36 points by the end of the third, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
The hype following the game was well-documented. With several familiar faces in the audience for the historic night, the price of admission also skyrocketed. Needless to say, James was bound to bring his best.
While his pre-game warm-up routine saw some interesting shot attempts, James also donned some interesting headphones. The top of his headphones had “38,388” embedded on them in gold. The sheer hype that followed was merely a set-up for a one-of-a-kind performance.
James racked up the points to close in on the record in tremendous fashion. With a multifaceted approach to scoring, LeBron looked hard to stop. However, it was off a magical fall-away jumper from the left elbow that eventually solidified James’ legacy.
With family and friends present, James certainly earned his laurels. With a heartfelt message for the fans as well, the “king” truly gave the spectators a night worth remembering.
LeBron ended the night with 38 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to secure the win for the Purple and Gold as they came up short in the 130-133 contest.
Although James displayed a solid performance, the Lakers as a whole struggled. Meanwhile, the OKC Thunder were raining down a barrage of threes to prevent the Purple and Gold from getting ahead. Having shot 50% from beyond the arc and 52% from the field, the Thunder left the Lakers’ defense in shambles.
The loss left a bad taste in the mouth for Lakers fans as celebrations for LeBron’s accomplishments were cut short. Now falling to 25-30 on the season, the Purple and Gold have their backs to the wall yet again.