LeBron James Downplays Breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Minutes Record

The Los Angeles Lakers star admitted the latest all-time record “doesn’t mean much” after a career-worst loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

All eyes were on LeBron James last February, when the Lakers forward hit 39,388 career points on a 15-foot jumper against the Thunder, passing fellow Los Angeles legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the No. 1 spot on the league’s all-time scoring list.

On Monday night in Philadelphia, James took over another No. 1 spot in the NBA record books, passing Abdul-Jabbar in a major statistical category once again. This time he was far less interested in reflecting on the milestone. 

After surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s 66,297 career minutes—a total that combines regular-season and postseason play—James downplayed the milestone in wake of a 138–94 blowout loss to the 76ers.

“That doesn’t mean much to me,” he said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James wasn’t excited about setting the NBA’s all-time minutes mark in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers :: Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

The blowout loss likely contributed to the answer. The 44-point margin is the largest of James’s Hall of Fame career, and the fifth-largest in Lakers franchise history, according to ESPN.

James, who now has logged 66,319 career regular- and postseason minutes, was limited to 30 minutes in the loss, recording 18 points and five assists. L.A. was outscored by 30 with James on the court, the second-worst mark on the team behind Jaxson Hayes (minus-33 in 19 minutes). 

When asked about preventing another loss of that magnitude, James was quite frank.

“What needs to change in order for that not to happen again? Um, a lot,” he said, declining to add how he believes the team should respond.

“I can only speak for myself,” James said, per ESPN. “I don’t like it.”