One of the most unbreakable records of LeBron James’ career quietly came to an end, and fittingly, it happened in a win.
James’ streak of 1,297 consecutive games scoring at least ten points snapped during the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Toronto Raptors, a night in which he finished with just eight points. Instead of forcing shots late to preserve the streak, James made the read that mattered most, finding Rui Hachimura for the game-winning three.
“I’m a guy that goes to the bench and I like to look at the stat sheet,” James said speaking on the Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash. “I like to look at what I’m shooting from the field, I like to be super efficient. I’d be lying to say that I don’t know how many points I have at any given moment of the game, but I never went into the game during the streak saying ‘OK, I have to get 10 points. I have to keep this streak going.’ It would be a disservice to me and the way I play the game. And it showed in how this streak ended on how I’ve always played the game.”
The streak had flirted with danger before. James recalled one moment from earlier in his career when injury nearly ended it mid-game.
“I mean, there were some close calls for sure. I had a season in which I believe, I don’t know if it was 2021 or ’22 or maybe ’20, I don’t know coming out of the bubble. I was playing some of the best basketball of my career even at that stage of my career and we were playing Atlanta and my leg got rolled up on. And any time that I’ve sprained my ankle or my leg got rolled up on or whatever I’ve had this routine of like, ‘OK, you feel it, but let’s just tighten the shoes. Let’s tighten the shoes up a little bit tighter and let’s get going.’”
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