For a kid from Akron who needed inspiration, Jordan has always been the point of reference.
Eventually, the emotion took over, and he, LeBron James took refuge on the bench and covered his face with a towel. Yes, the number 23 of the Lakers made it and concluded the long climb to the 32,292 points scored in career by Michael Jordan : a penetrating basket in the second quarter brought James over 13 points in the match against Denver, what was needed to reach another historic milestone. He is now fourth in the all-time rankings behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbr, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant.
It only happens once in a lifetime, LeBron had already happened to pass MJ for points scored in the playoffs in the spring of 2017, but in the night between March 6 and 7 he surpassed the legend by points in the regular season. And the three-time NBA champion with Miami and Cleveland said:
Of everything I’ve done in my career, this achievement is up there, along with the titles I won. For a kid from Akron, Ohio who needed inspiration and positive influence, Michael Jordan has always been a point of reference. Looking at it from afar, I wanted to be like MJ, fade away like MJ, stick out my tongue like MJ, dress MJ’s shoes. The fact that kids can look at me like I did MJ is crazy, to be honest. Indeed, and beyond the crazy
If James wears the number 23 and precisely for Jordan, as well as for tonight’s overtaking match against Denver he decided to wear a pair of LeBron 16 with a colorway that recalled one of MJ’s most famous models, the Air Jordan III ” white cement “. On those shoes, as he always does before competitions, he too had written in marker “Thank you MJ 23”.
A historic night for basketball and bitter – paradoxically – for the Los Angeles Lakers and for LeBron himself: the 99-115 defeat that definitively marked the end of his streak of 13 consecutive playoffs.The Lakers in fact say goodbye to the hopes of taking part in the post-season, making a season played with great intentions very disappointing. Seeing LeBron in yellow-violet at the moment is synonymous with a missed goal; not the ideal condition to give who knows what final standing ovation.
🎥 LeBron James dropped 31 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists tonight as he passed Michael Jordan for fourth on the all-time NBA scoring list. pic.twitter.com/DpYu0OTvvh
– Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 7, 2019
Sara who is now 34 years old, but James has let himself go to the many memories that have crowded in her head after overtaking:
With my friends we did nothing but talk about MJ. When we were on the pitch, even in the snow or rain of Northeast Ohio, we just wanted to be MJ. All of us, right up to the end. It’s crazy. Even my friends from high school have written to me and they find it hard to believe it, just as I can’t do it well either, because we all remember walking through the streets of Akron with a basketball singing ‘I wanna be, I wanna be like Mike ‘
