It happened in the third quarter of the regular season game between OKC Thunders and the Los Angeles Lakers. With barely 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, Lebron executed a step back jumper that catapulted him to the top of the scoring record of the NBA. After months of anticipation and debate cum drama, its finally settled. Lebron James is the new King of Scoring.
I would stop my statement at this point. No my dear, I won’t dwell on the controversial GOAT for basketball. It’s highly debatable. Making scoring record history is no mean feat in this era of physical and highly technical basketball. Lebron deserves the accolade for breaking the record and his name is already cemented in basketball’s hall of fame for that feat.
The debate for basketball’s GOAT or Greatest Of all Time is so intense and emotion filled since basketball is dominated by players with varying strong personalities and a very solid fan base. Unlike in Football where Tom Brady’s claim attracts less attention nor Lionel Messi who’s almost in equal footing with the great Pele, the GOAT for basketball as of press time is far from being settled. It will remain at that I guess for a long time.
In golf much has been said about the GOAT. Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus at the peak of their career have the inside track for the title but none among them has been crowned the official title as the greatest of all time for this gentleman’s sport.
Tiger Woods has been hailed at the early part of his career as probably the greatest of all time when he started winning, dominating the sports and breaking records but nonetheless greatness in golf does not dwell only about records nor longevity but more weight has been factored for the character of the person. As we all knew, Tiger fell from grace when his extra curricular activities were exposed and when he started to get injured as father time caught up with him.
I am no Laker fan but I love Kobe Bryant and I adored Magic Johnson, my top choice as top point guard of all time. Lebron for me is only on transit in his jersey as a Laker but he won’t stay long and won’t be remembered as a Laker.
I am a fan of one great player, a charismatic person who floats in the air with those gravity defying, jaw dropping shots day in and day out. His acts were known on that era as Hangtime which reminds me of a favorite sports column I followed and idolized during those years. The same column that gave so much influence in my writing.
But enough of GOAT for basketball for the mean time. Let’s give our snappy salute to the new NBA scoring leader.
Hail to the King.
