Lakers' LeBron James Breaks Michael Jordan Record, Wows NBA Fans in Win vs. Hawks
January 4, 2025
Make room for another chapter in the NBA record book for LeBron James, who surpassed Michael Jordan's mark for most 30-point games in league history in the Los Angeles Lakers' 119-102 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
James finished with exactly 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting and eight assists in 30 minutes to help the Lakers win for the eighth time in their last 11 games.
"It's very humbling," James told reporters. "Anytime I'm mentioned with any of the greats, and arguably the greatest ever to play the game, super cool. It's someone I idolized in my childhood, and I wear 23 because of him. So to know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, when you mention MJ, it's just super-duper dope for me, being a kid from where I'm from."
James now has 563 games with at least 30 points, surpassing the previous record held by Michael Jordan. The historic moment came midway through the fourth quarter when James, fittingly, hit a fadeaway jumper over Onyeka Okongwu.
Even though it's become all too common to celebrate James for breaking records because he has done it so frequently, particularly in the past two seasons, fans were able to find news ways to acknowledge the greatness of the future Hall of Famer after his latest historic achievement.
NBACentral @TheDunkCentralLeBron James over his last 6 games: <br><br>30 PTS - 3 REB - 8 AST<br>38 PTS - 8 AST - 7 3PM<br>23 PTS - 4 REB - 7 AST<br>31 PTS - 4 REB - 10 AST<br>28 PTS - 11 REB - 11 AST<br>32 PTS - 7 REB - 6 AST <br><br>(Via <a href="https://twitter.com/realapp_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realapp_</a> ) <a href="https://t.co/sjlHF4THYS">pic.twitter.com/sjlHF4THYS</a>
Jordan's 562nd game with at least 30 points came in his 1,053rd game. Friday was the 1,523rd career game for James. LeBron is the more efficient scorer of the two with a 50.6 field-goal percentage, compared to 49.7 percent for Jordan.
As impressive as another milestone is, the best news for the Lakers is that James looks to be back on track after a brief slump and sitting out two games in early December due to a foot injury.
In eight starts since returning on Dec. 15, James is averaging 27.4 points on 53.7 percent shooting (44.7 percent from three), 8.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. The Lakers are 6-2 in those games and have moved six games over .500 for the first time since Nov. 19.
Next up for the Lakers is a two-game road trip in Texas. They will play the Houston Rockets on Sunday before traveling to Dallas to the play the Mavericks on Tuesday.
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