Los Angeles Lakers tickets for their clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder are selling for as much as £75,000 as LeBron James is set to break the NBA all-time scoring record.
James was 89 points adrift of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record as the all-time scoring leader prior to facing the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. The 38-year-old starred with 26 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers triumphed 112-111 in a tight contest.
James now has 38,325 points in his illustrious career and crucially trails Abdul-Jabbar by just 63 points while playing 152 less matches. The Milwaukee Bucks and Lakers legend has been atop the career points list since April 5 1984 - eight months before James was even born - when he passed the mark previously held by Wilt Chamberlain.
It appears fans in Los Angeles - and the wider NBA world - are excited to see James break the record. The Lakers face the Thunder next Tuesday, and tickets are reaching ludicrous figures with courtside seats selling for up to $92,000 (£75,000) as fans want to see the moment in history.
James could theoretically break the record in New Orleans against the Pelicans on Saturday but he will have to drop a stellar 63-point performance. This is unlikely; James’ sole 60-point outing was when he scored 61 on the Charlotte Bobcats in March 2014 while he played for the Miami Heat.
It means the clash with the Thunder is largely expected to be the much-anticipated day James breaks the all-time scoring record. Plenty of celebrities and sporting star power will be in attendance in Los Angeles to try and witness sporting history.
James is also climbing up the all-time assists leaderboard. James needed nine assists to pass both Mark Jackson and Steve Nash to move into fourth all-time for assists, and he duly delivered last week.
Only John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,901) and Chris Paul (11,246) now have more assists than James (10,328). The four-time MVP is the only non-point guard to make the top 20, which highlights his incredible all-round ability.
When asked if he wanted to stick around to claim Stockton’s record, James laughed and said: “Nah man I’m not thinking about that all…. I’m good on that but I’m happy to be linked with some of the greats that’s for sure.”
James will look to make further inroads on the scoring record when his 25-28 Lakers face the Pelicans on Saturday night. The 26-27 Pacers currently sit 10th in the Eastern Conference.
