Lakers’ James discusses record chase
“I knew I was ready for the moment,” James told ESPN in an exclusive interview Friday. “I knew I belonged in the best league in the world. But I didn’t know what to expect. And I was super nervous. I didn’t know how my first basket was going to come.”
Three minutes and four seconds after starting his first NBA game on Oct. 29, 2003, James hit his first NBA shot: a dribble-drive layup 16 feet from the basket along the baseline.
“It’s actually kind of a tough shot,” James said. “But I was so, so nervous with excitement. Nervous with, I don’t want to miss. I don’t want to let people down.”
James has only racked up wins, and points, since then. He’s on a roll as he approaches Abdul-Jabbar’s record, averaging 33.7 points on 57.8 percent shooting in his last 12 games, including 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting in Friday night’s 130-114 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Not bad for a guy who has long argued he’s not a scorer.
“I mean, I know how to put the ball in the basket,” James said. “When I say I’m not a scorer, I mean it in the sense that it’s never been the defining part of my game…. But there’s an argument. When you look at how long this record has been around and the great Kareem, achieving something like this.
“But it’s not for me to argue that because I’ve never felt that way.”
Abdul-Jabbar has held the torch as the league’s all-time leading scorer since April 5, 1984, nearly nine months before James, who turned 38 last month, was born.
Unlike Abdul-Jabbar, whose signature skyhook is frozen in time in bronze like a statue outside Crypto.com Arena, James said picking a move from his offensive repertoire isn’t such an obvious choice.
“It’s not like I have a Dirk [Nowitzki] one-legged signature shot or a Michael Jordan patented fadeway shot or a Kareem hook shot or a [Hakeem Olajuwon] Dream Shake,” James said. “I think the one characteristic people always talk about is my signature tomahawk dunk in transition.”
James continues to play above the rim as his career progresses, but his team is no longer playing near the top of the standings. L.A. has missed the playoffs in two of James’ four seasons with the Lakers and has an 18-21 record, 12th in the Western Conference.
“I want to win. [Losing] doesn’t sit well with me,” James said. “I don’t like to have accomplishments, and it doesn’t feel good, when it’s a failed effort…. So now that we’re sitting here as a franchise and as a team that’s below .500, we’ve played good basketball lately, but we want and I want to win at the highest level. Breaking records or setting records or passing the big boys in a losing effort has never been my DNA.”
