As the Los Angeles Lakers begin their quest for a second-straight NBA Championship, LeBron James reached yet another milestone in his illustrious career.
During the Lakers’ Christmas Day match-up against the Dallas Mavericks, the superstar small forward contributed to his team’s second win of the season by scoring 22 points. In the process, James climbed to number two on the NBA’s all-time Christmas Day scoring list.
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In his 18-year career, James has played a total of 15 times on Dec. 25, accumulating 383 points on that day. He surpassed Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson on the scoring list, as reported by ESPN. He now only trails the late Kobe Bryant, who is in first place with 395 points amassed over the 16 Christmas Day games he played during his 20-year career with the Lakers.
The memory of Bryant was present during the Lakers’ previous game as well. During their season opener earlier in the week, the players and coaches received their championship rings, earned from their NBA Finals win over the Miami Heat in October. As previously reported by theGrio, the rings have subtle tributes to Bryant, who lost his life in January in a helicopter crash.
Engraved inside the ring are all the jerseys of Laker greats who have had their numbers retired. Bryant’s jersey numbers of 8 and 24 are the only ones in Black, commemorating the special black Lakers uniforms he helped design, signifying his “Black Mamba” nickname. The Mamba aesthetic is also found on the side of the ring, with features snake scales.
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On the night prior to Bryant’s death, James surpassed him on the all-time career scoring list during a January game against the Philadelphia 76ers. USA Today reported that James scored his 33,644th point in that game, overtaking Bryant, a Philadelphia native, as third all-time on the scoring list, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.
Bryant’s final tweet before dying the following morning was to congratulate James, his friend and former Olympic teammate, on passing him. “Continuing to move the game forward,” Bryant wrote. “Much respect my brother.”
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