Golf icon Tiger Woods heaped praise on LeBron James after the Los Angeles Lakers star became the leading points scorer in NBA history.
Last Tuesday, James scored 38 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387. The Milwaukee Bucks and Lakers legend had 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.
Woods is preparing to play in his first non-major PGA Tour event since the 2020 Zozo Championship this weekend at the Genesis Open, which is held at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. While on the west coast, the 47-year-old was asked about James, whose Lakers sit 13th in the Western Conference despite the King’s impressive individual form.
It is unclear whether Woods can make it around 72 holes, which is perhaps why he admires James’ longevity. He believes the 38-year-old achieved the impossible by eclipsing Abdul-Jabbar, who Woods revealed he grew up watching alongside Magic Johnson as the Lakers dominated the 1980s.
“What he accomplished is absolutely incredible of just the durability, the consistency and the longevity,” Woods said ahead of the Genesis Open, which gets underway on Thursday. “I never thought- I mean, I grew up watching Kareem here and never saw him play in Milwaukee, but he was the Cap, you know?
“That’s all I remember, the Showtime Lakers and watching Cap run down there with the goggles and hitting the skyhook. That record we never thought would be surpassed.
“But what LeBron’s doing, also the amount of minutes he’s playing - no one’s ever done it at that age, and what he’s done and be able to play five positions, that’s never been done before, especially at this level for this long.”
Woods was also asked to compare NBA scoring record to a golf record. He pondered the question and answered: “As far as our equivalent to that, I don't know, maybe you look at maybe me and Sam [Snead] at 82 [wins].
“It takes a career to get to those numbers. That's how I think probably best how you look at it.”
James’ 26-32 Lakers face the New Orleans Pelicans in their next game on Wednesday night. The 30-28 Pelicans sit in the seventh seed of the Western Conference, four games ahead of Los Angeles.
