Incredible photo shows the harsh truth behind Lebron James' record breaking moment

A picture capturing LeBron James’s incredible NBA record has been shared on social media which shows the reality of major sporting events in 2023.

NBA legend James officially became the all-time top points scorer in the history of the league after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record against Oklahoma in Los Angeles on Tuesday (7 February) night.

Despite the Lakers losing the game 133-130, James scored 38 points to set the all-time regular season scoring record.

The achievement has been widely lauded on social media, with countless fans celebrating James’s remarkable achievement.

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One post, though, showed a different aspect of the accomplishment, reflecting how time had changed fans’ experience of seeing the best players in the NBA on the course.

Maxime Dupuis from Eurosport France posted two side-by-side images, one showing Michael Jordan in his heyday playing for the Chicago Bulls.

“Avant le smartphone. Après le smartphone,” the caption reads.

The pictures show the crowd glued to the action on the left, watching in anticipation as Jordan attempts a shot.

The one on the right shows LeBron decades later in action during Tuesday's game, only this time the crowd is a sea of camera phones as people film the moment from their seats.

People may have watched it differently compared to years gone by, but James’s achievement cannot be understated.

Abdul-Jabbar’s regular season scoring mark of 38,387 career points was thought by many to be unsurpassable. Many experts thought Abdul-Jabbar’s points total was unattainable for an athlete today.

Abdul-Jabbar had been invited to attend the game and James urged the audience to honour him by giving a “standing ovation to the captain”.

LeBron has been at the LA Lakers since 2018Harry How/Getty Images

“I just wanna say thank you to the Laker faithful,” he said. “You guys are one of a kind. To be able to be in the presence of such a legend as great as Kareem, it means so much to me. It’s very humbling.

“Please give a standing ovation to the captain, please ... To my beautiful wife, my daughter, my two boys, my friends ... man, everybody that’s ever been a part of this run with me the last 20 years... I just wanna say I thank you so much ‘cause I wouldn’t be me without y’all.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver called it a “remarkable” feat to break the all-time record.

“I think it’s such a testament to him. And he’s not just sort of at the end of his career just like hanging around to get that record. He’s still playing at an incredibly high level. I think it’s spectacular,” he said.

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