Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reacts to LeBron James breaking his scoring record / News - Basketnews.com

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reacted to the news of LeBron James breaking his NBA scoring record, saying that Jame deserves all the credit for his longevity and domination.

Credit: USA Sports Today-Scanpix Credit USA Sports Today-Scanpix

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar saw live how LeBron James breaks his NBA scoring record and reacted to the news by praising the Los Angeles Lakers star.

Player of the Game EFF 27 Jaylin Williams Points 14 Accuracy 4-6 Rebounds 7 Assists 7

"LeBron's career is one of someone who planned to dominate this game," Abdul-Jabbar said in an interview with TNT after the game. "And it's gone for almost 20 years now You have to give him credit for just the way he played and for the way he's lasted and dominated. He has that indefinable essence that they call leadership."

James made a step-back jumper with 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter, scoring his 36th point of the night and breaking Kareem's record. The game was temporarily stopped to honor LeBron's achievement.

James finished the game with 38 points (9/14 2PT, 4/6 3PT, 8/10 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers.

Abdul-Jabbar has been atop the career points list since April 5, 1984, when he broke the mark previously held by Wilt Chamberlain. Now, James is the new record holder.

"I thought it had every chance of being broken," Abdul-Jabbar continued. "It just had to have someone that the offense focused on continually."

As the youngest player ever to score each thousand-point milestone from 1,000 to 38,000 in league history, James, who is averaging 30.0 points this season, is also the oldest player to ever average 30 points per game.

Top 10 NBA All-Time points leaders

Rank Player Points Games played Minutes FGM FGA FG% 1. LeBron James 38,388 1,409 53,708 14,040 27,809 50.5 2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 1,560 57,446 15,837 28,307 55.9 3. Karl Malone 36,928 1,476 54,852 13,528 26,210 51.6 4. Kobe Bryant 33,643 1,346 48,643 11,719 26,200 44.7 5. Michael Jordan 32,292 1,072 41,010 12,192 24,537 49.7 6. Dirk Nowitzki 31,560 1,522 51,367 11,169 23,734 47.1 7. Wilt Chamberlain 31,419 1,045 47,859 12,681 23,497 54.0 8. Shaquille O'Neal 28,596 1,207 41,917 11,330 19,457 58.2 9. Carmelo Anthony 28,289 1,260 43,513 10,119 22,643 44.7 10. Moses Malone 27,409 1,329 45,071 9,435 19,225 49.1 Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.