LeBron James makes NBA history on a star-filled night in LA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record in an arena filled with stars and rocked by eager fans anticipating a crowning moment in his 20-year career. James chased the 36 points necessary to surpass Abdul-Jabbar with determination, scoring 20 in the first half. The fans roared with every point while he inched toward the mark held since April 1984 by Abdul-Jabbar, who watched the game from a baseline seat near the Lakers’ bench. James’ mother, wife and three children also watched from courtside amid the thousands who rose in waves of anticipation nearly every time James touched the ball.
LeBron’s off-court legacy complements his basketball success
LeBron James is soon going to be in the NBA record books as the most prolific scorer ever. But for all his accomplishments on the basketball court, it is James’ ambitious pursuits off-the-court that may ultimately distinguish his legacy from other superstar athletes’. James co-founded an entertainment company, bought stakes in professional baseball and soccer franchises and, with help from product endorsements, his net worth is estimated to be above $1 billion. The off-court achievement James is most proud of is working to uplift the lives of people in his hometown of Akron. Many athletes have excelled in one or more of these areas. But few have done all of them as well as James.
AP PHOTOS: LeBron James’ run to the NBA scoring record
Associated Press photographers have captured LeBron James for the entirety of his 20-year career, starting from when he was an 18-year-old rookie to now as a 38-year-old who just became the most prolific scorer in NBA history. That covers both his stints in Cleveland, his two championships in Miami, the third title when he returned to the Cavaliers and a fourth inside the pandemic bubble for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. Check out some highlights of James’ run to the NBA scoring record, as captured by the AP.
Brittney Griner absent from USA camp, but keeping in touch
Brittney Griner texted her good friend Diana Taurasi on Tuesday morning asking how the USA Basketball training camp was going. Griner was back in Arizona, choosing to skip the camp in Minnesota so she can be with her wife and recover from her time in a Russian jail. She was traded in a dramatic prisoner swap in December. Taurasi said the two talk regularly now that Griner is home in Phoenix. They workout together as well as chat and text each other often. Griner has said she’ll play for Phoenix again this season although she’s still an unsigned free agent. She hasn’t talked about her international future and potentially playing for the U.S. at the Olympics next year in Paris.
South Carolina’s Staley defends team after Auriemma comments
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has strongly defended her team in response to comments by UConn coach Geno Auriemma after the top-ranked Gamecocks’ 81-77 victory over the Huskies on Sunday. Staley spoke on her radio call-in show Tuesday night, saying she’s angry when her team is wrongly criticized for its success. Auriemma said Huskies guard/forward Lou Lopez Senechal was bruised during the game. He said it’s “appalling” how teams play against her and said it’s “not basketball.” Staley says she’s tired of her team getting put down for winning. She says her teams play the right way.
Mahomes, Hurts buoy Super Bowl teams amid QB injury spate
The Chiefs and Eagles are bringing MVP finalists Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts to the Super Bowl to cap a season in which the NFL had a glaring amount of instability at quarterback. A total of 68 QBs started at least one game, a record for a non-strike year. Nearly half of all changes during the regular season were because of injuries at the most important position, despite the league’s efforts to try to keep QBs healthy. A record 13 teams used at least three starters, including the San Francisco 49ers, whose season ended in the NFC title game when they had no healthy quarterbacks available.
Revolving door at QB ruined season for Jets, other NFL teams
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets’ season began with aging Joe Flacco starting at quarterback. It ended the same way. And that was the problem. New York made five changes at quarterback with Flacco to Zach Wilson to Mike White, back to Wilson, back to White, back to Flacco. The Jets certainly weren’t alone with that sort of revolving door. NFL teams combined to start 68 quarterbacks which was the most in the Super Bowl era in a non-strike year.
Scoring King: James passes Abdul-Jabbar for NBA points mark
LeBron James is the NBA’s new career scoring leader. With a stepback jumper with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game Tuesday night against Oklahoma City, James pushed his career total to 38,388 points and broke the record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly four decades. Abdul-Jabbar became the league’s all-time leading scorer on April 5, 1984 and wound up retiring in 1989 with 38,387 points. The game stopped for a ceremony after James broke the record and he had tears in his eyes as he thanked the crowd, Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and others. James finished with 38 points in the Lakers’ 133-130 loss and stands at 38,390.
Italy’s Bassino beats Shiffrin to gold in super-G at worlds
MERIBEL, France (AP) — Marta Bassino has won the women’s super-G to give Italy its second gold medal at the Alpine skiing world championships and Mikaela Shiffrin took silver. Shiffrin led Bassino by three-tenths of a second at the second split but couldn’t match the Italian’s pace in the last part of the Roc de Fer course and finished 0.11 seconds behind. Cornelia Huetter of Austria and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway both came 0.33 behind to share the bronze medal. The result came two days after Shiffrin was heading for a possible medal in the combined event before straddling the third-to-last gate in the slalom portion.
Super Bowl has rare matchup of top 2 regular-season teams
This year’s Super Bowl features a rare matchup of the NFL’s top two teams from the regular season. The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were the league’s only 14-game winners, marking just the sixth time since the 1970 merger that the squads with sole possession of the two best records in the regular season met for the championship. The last time it happened came after the 2013 season when Seattle beat Denver 43-8 in a matchup of 13-win teams.
