SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leader in regular-season minutes played Thursday, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick congratulated the 39-year-old star in the locker room in front of the team.
The reception from his teammates following L.A.’s 113-100 win over the Sacramento Kings was a little looser.
“They told me I’m old as hell and all that,” James said after logging 34 minutes to bring his career total to 57,471, moving Abdul-Jabbar to No. 2 with 57,446.
James, a 22-year veteran, is the oldest active player in the league and has finally shown signs of aging this season, recently taking an eight-day absence from the team to rehabilitate a left foot injury.
However, he has turned in two effective performances since coming back to the lineup, and the Lakers won both games against teams they’re jostling with in the Western Conference standings in the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento. He had 19 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds against the Kings after putting up 18, 8 and 8 against the Grizzlies.
“His voice is what we missed the two games that he was out — on both ends of the floor,” said Anthony Davis, who finished with 21 points and season highs in rebounds (19) and blocks (6). “I mean, he’s a natural-born leader when it comes to the game, and when it’s time where it might seem chaotic, he’s able to kind of take control and just get us into something and we try to execute as good as possible.”
It was not too long ago that the entire Lakers season was starting to feel chaotic, with L.A. dropping seven out of nine games and then James leaving the lineup for two games to rest.
But the Lakers have bounced back with wins in three out of their past four games, with their defense being a strength rather than a weakness as it had been during the losing streak.
“For the group, I really felt like this might be my favorite win we’ve had all season,” Redick said.
Added Davis: “We’re playing desperate — especially on the defensive end. And it’s showing.”
Austin Reaves led L.A. in scoring with 25 points, and three other players besides James and Davis topped double-digit scoring: D’Angelo Russell finished with 16 points, Gabe Vincent had 12 and Rui Hachimura chipped in 10.
And James was able to enjoy the minutes feat coming full circle, back in the same city where he played his first NBA regular-season game in 2003.
“It’s a pretty cool honor, obviously, anytime I’m linked with some of the greats that have ever played this game,” James said. “I’ve been available to my teammates. I’ve been able to do this at a high level over two decades. And to continue to put myself in record books in this game of basketball that I love so much and in the best league in the world is pretty cool and it’s very humbling.”
L.A. will stay in Sacramento to finish off the two-game set Saturday, but James said he was not ready to look ahead to that contest just yet.
“I just set the all-time-leading [mark] in minutes, I am not thinking about this next game yet,” he said. “I’m about to get to this [hotel] room, drink some wine, play some Madden and chill the f— out.”
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