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Earlier this season, LeBron James surpassed Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, and now he’s done the same with Michael Jordan.
According to ESPN, Wednesday, James only needed 13 more points to take Jordan’s slot to become the No. 4 in the NBA ranknigs as he headed into that evening’s game against the Denver Nuggets. He was even rocking an extra special pair of Nike LeBron 16s for the occasion, with the words “Thank you M.J. 23” on the side.
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“Of all the stuff I’ve done in my career, this ranks right up there at the top with winning a championship,” James said before the game.
“For a kid from Akron, Ohio, that needed inspiration and needed some type of positive influence, MJ was that guy for me,” he recalls. “I watched him from afar, wanted to be like MJ, wanted to shoot fadeaways like MJ, wanted to stick my tongue out on dunks like MJ, wanted to wear my sneakers like MJ. I wanted kids to look up to me at some point like MJ and it’s just crazy, to be honest. It’s beyond crazy.”
Historic night for basketball royalty. @KingJames passes His Airness as the fourth-leading scorer of all-time. pic.twitter.com/f1WsVjOBvH
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 7, 2019
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Jame’s lefty layup during the second quarter put him in fourth place all time, moving him past Jordan, who he is constantly being compared to.
According to TMZ, Jordan graciously responded the the big moment stating, “I want to congratulate LeBron on achieving another great milestone during his amazing career.”
Rapper 2 Chainz, who was sitting court side during the game, joined in on the celebration and commemorated the moment by gifting James with one of his chains.
Now that James is in fourth place on the list, only fellow basketball Hall of Fame legends Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are ahead of him in third, second and first place, respectively.