Heading into tonight’s Lakers-Sixers game in Philadelphia, LeBron needed 18 points to pass Kobe Bryant for third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Considering how well he’s played this year and the stakes of the game, it was a likely bet he’d do it, and early in the third quarter that’s exactly what happened.
LeBron James gets to the bucket to move up to 3rd on the all-time scoring list! pic.twitter.com/almofNRKrg
— NBA (@NBA) January 26, 2020
That’s a fitting way for LeBron to do it, too, a trademark brute strength drive into space for an easy layup. He has a variety of moves that are essentially unstoppable if he gets to the right spot, and that’s certainly one of them. James now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.
In a fun moment, the Philadelphia crowd offered James a standing ovation, which LeBron obviously acknowledged with a curtain call.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1221275218846547968
Kobe also weighed in:
Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother
#33644 — Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) January 26, 2020
Unfortunately for LeBron and the Lakers, that was probably the highlight of the night, as they were otherwise handled fairly easily by the Sixers, losing 108-91. James finished with 29 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds in the losing effort.