Lakers star LeBron James broke the NBA record for career regular-season points during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Tuesday night.
After James drained a fadeaway jump-shot with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, officials hit pause on the game clock to celebrate.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who previously held the record with a career total of 38,387 points, stepped onto the hardwood to commemorate the major milestone.
James started his speech by paying tribute to Abdul-Jabbar and the crowd responded with a standing ovation for the Laker great, nicknamed “The Captain.”
In addition to thanking the Laker faithful, James took a moment to thank his family. James’ immediate family — his wife Savannah, his children Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri and his mother Gloria — sat courtside, and so did other key figures in James’ life, including Nike founder Phil Knight, business partner Maverick Carter and agent Rich Paul.
“I just want to say thank you so much because I wouldn’t be me without y’all,” James said.
Former Lakers and NBA veterans were everywhere: James Worthy, Dwyane Wade, Michael Cooper, Bob McAdoo, A.C. Green and Richard Jefferson.
A number of VIPs from the Grammy Awards, held two nights earlier in the same building, came back for the game: Jay-Z, Bad Bunny, Usher and LL Cool J.
In what might be the ultimate sports blooper, James dropped an F-Bomb on live TV before finishing his speech and returning to the game.
Fans took to Twitter to share their reactions:
You get one F bomb for breaking the scoring record
— AFunkyDiabetic (@FunkyDiabetic1) February 8, 2023
The FCC watching LeBron James drop the f-bomb pic.twitter.com/Gj8DhZpNcP
— Sean Wagner-McGough (@seanjwagner) February 8, 2023
Great acceptance speech by LeBron … but could’ve done without the concluding f-bomb, even though it summed up his overwhelmed emotion.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless)
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