James gets it done but Lakers don't. Now what?

The 20-year marvel breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record.

It was supposed to be a capstone of the Lakers’ season. LeBron James launched a stepback with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, and surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the leading scorer in NBA history.

It wasn’t supposed to be the only one.

Tuesday night brought the most fraught atmosphere to the former Staples Center since Kobe Bryant went for 60 points in his final stop, seven years ago. Grammy winners and NBA alumni populated the lower bowl. Abdul-Jabbar was there, too, although few people thought he’d be alive, or they themselves would be, when the record finally fell. Nobody envisioned a kid from Akron, sleeping in a different house virtually every month, who would be fast, strong and driven enough to carry a team after his 38th birthday.

“The alltime leading scorer, you have witnessed it,” said veteran PA announcer Lawrence Tanter.

At the very least. James scored his 36th point to break the record in his 26th minute of play and wound up with 38 points in 34 minutes with only 20 field goal attempts. He also hit four 3-pointers, got seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Few players ever stuffed a stat sheet more comprehensively than James, but it wasn’t supposed to happen in his middle age.

The Lakers also were plus-8 in James’ minutes, but it didn’t keep them from losing, 133-130 to an Oklahoma City team that replaced them for 12th place in the Western Conference standings and sank the Lakers’ record to 25-30.

It’s difficult to lose a game when you shoot 57.6 percent from the field, but L.A. missed eight free throws and had 20 turnovers, 10 by James and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder also cashed 17 of their 34 3-point attempts, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the ex-Clipper who was part of the price for Paul George, scored 30 points, right about his average.’

More notably, the Thunder won even though its starting lineup totaled 10 years of NBA experience. That’s half of Lebron’s.

It must have occurred to some clear-eyed Laker fans that it would be nice to watch a bold, energetic team like the Thunder for the next few years, instead of the top-heavy, oft-injured Lakers team they’re stuck with. The news that the Lakers were at least talking to the Nets about Kyrie Irving, and that James was clearly in favor of getting him, was even more poignant. Team-building has gone out the window, and so far general manager Rob Pelinka has been unable to gather his resources for a trade, as if one mere transaction would solve things.

James and Anthony Davis, who came to the Lakers because he is a Klutch Sports colleague of James’ and who cost the Lakers several potential core players, did lead the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship, conducted before few witnesses at Disney World. Since there was no parade and no games in L.A., it seems more like a grainy documentary than a real event in our lifetime. Yet it happened, and since the Lakers did have essential players around James and Davis, it could have happened again. Instead, Davis’ many injuries have disrupted a souffle that had a far too delicate recipe.

It’s difficult to imagine James can play for a fifth NBA championship, or an 11th appearance in the NBA Finals, at his current place of employment, and he’s made it clear he wants to play alongside his son Bronny at some point. But it isn’t difficult to imagine that James will extend his point total to a level that won’t be surprassed in another 39 years.

In any event it’s a special American life. James missed 83 days of school one year as he was shuttled through neighborhoods, with no dad around and a struggling mom. His life changed when he moved in with the family of youth coach Frank Walker. He becmae a national sensation and a Sports Illustrated cover figure at St. Vincent’s-St. Mary’s, a high school player of such distinction that his team played all over the country. He was the first-overall draft pick in 2003, the same year the Mighty Ducks drafted Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

Willie McGee was one of his teammates, and in 2018 he recalled James’ keen grasp of high school rivals. St. Vincent’s-St. Mary’s was set to play Philadelphia’s Germantown Academy and James told his teammates, “This is serious. These guys are legit.” But then James dominated. Later they came to Los Angeles to play Westchester, which featured Trevor Ariza. James issued the same warning. Then he scored 52.

“I started thinking, ‘You know, there’s levels to this.’’’ McGee said.

James was also an all-state receiver who scored 16 touchdowns and caught 57 passes as a sophomore. When he broke his wrist, he turned exclusively to basketball. Otherwise he might have been a truly epochal tight end or linebacker. Imagine how much more imposing he would look on an NFL field.

James is the leading playoff scorer in NBA history and is fourth in alltime regular-season assists. Michael Jordan is popularly known as the best player ever, and you can certainly make that case, based on his 6-0 record in NBA Finals. The difference is that James’ four titles came with three different franchises, and that he had to get through San Antonio and Golden State to win those trophies. The consistency and longevity are the standards that might get to forever.

Former NBA coach and current Turner Sports commentator Stan Van Gundy has the best handle on that argument. He says you can bat around the record of who’s best, until sundown. But it’s impossible to maintain that James isn’t the most accomplished player, with the fattest portfolio and the longest impact.

Twenty seasons into one of the most corrosive sports you can find, James is still able to perform on call. He could let this record go until Thursday night, when the Lakers play host to Milwaukee. Instead he wanted to put it behind them, where everything else is, except for reality. He and the Lakers wake up today with few remaining games and too many hurdles. For he and them, February isn’t where the story is supposed to end.