By: Debadrita Ghosh Image credit: NBA and Twitter.
On February 7, 2023, the LA Lakers' legend LeBron James finally broke the all-time scoring record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which was 38,387 points.
LeBron James scored 36 points for the Los Angeles Lakers while they played against the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, the Lakers lost the game 133–130 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LeBron James denied the pressure from Shaquille O’Neal to declare himself the G.O.A.T. of the NBA in the postgame interview on "Inside the NBA" on TNT. However, LeBron declared that he was satisfied to be at the top alongside the best players.
After that, James modestly said that he would let the fans and the media decide who is the greatest; Michael Jordan or him.
Shaquille O'Neal commented on the same and stated that he was envious of James when he saw him surpass Abdul Jabbar’s all-time scoring record.
Shaq said: “It was a professional jealousy moment. If it was me, I would have been arrogant for 19 seconds… I know he is a humble kid, and I know he is going to give the answer…”
Shaq continued: “I don’t want to be involved in the debate of who is the greatest, I am jealous of having the conversation… It is nice to be ‘Who’s the greatest? Him, or him?’ Everybody would love to be in that position.”
However, it is also true that, at the end of the day, Shaq is happy about LeBron’s achievement, no matter if he was not able to make the same one. He has acknowledged that he is content with his achievement of being the most dominant player in NBA history.
“I Think the Greatest Player Is…” – 4x NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal Settles the GOAT Debate Between Michael Jordan and LeBron James Check it out.