On Jan. 5, 2007, Lebron James scored less than 10 points, and since that day, for almost 20 years, James has scored at least 10 points. To understand how long that streak has lasted, in 2007, George W. Bush was president. Apple released its first version of the iPhone. “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Bronny James was just 2-and-a-half years old.
And on Thursday, one of the greatest records to ever stand came to an end—after the selfless James passed up a shot to keep the streak alive for a teammate to hit the game winner.
Just like that, for the first time in 19 years, the Los Angeles Lakers forward failed to score double digits in regular season games, snapping a 1,297 consecutive games with at least 10 points.
“James scored 8 points in a 123-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors Thursday, Dec. 4. With the game tied at 120 and seconds left to play, James had the ball in his hands and drove through the middle of the paint. Rather than putting up a shot, however, James fired a pass to the left corner, where a wide-open Rui Hachimura rattled home the game-winning 3-pointer,” USA Today reports.
“LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game. “And like he has done so many times in his career — and I remember him getting ridiculed early on, when he would make the right play and his teammate would shoot the game winner — he did it like he has done so many times.
“I knew it was good as soon as it left Rui’s hands.”
“The basketball gods — if you do it the right way — they tend to reward you,” Redick said.
To understand how crazy James’ streak was, the second closest player on the list is Michael Jordan with 866 straight games with at least 10 points. The current longest active streak is held by Kevin Durant with 267 games. This record will stand for at least a few decades, as it’s going to take some 20 years to break it.
USA Today notes that James finished the game with a horrendous shooting night, going just 4-17 from the floor. James missed five three-pointers, but he did dish out 11 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds, and the Lakers win now has them second in the Western Conference with a 16-5 record.
“Just playing the game the right way,” James said. “That’s just been my M.O. That’s how I was taught the game. I’ve done that my whole career. There was not even 1 second guess in that.”