LeBron James Breaks NBA Record But Can't Stop Lakers From Plunging to New Lows

LeBron James drew anger from some with his dancing displays during the Super Bowl, where he backed the Los Angeles Rams as they edged past the Cincinnati Bengals, as some Lakers fans felt he should be in a more sullen place given the poor position the Crypto.com Arena side find themselves in.

However, such criticism is unfounded, not least as LeBron James has been in outstanding form for the Lakers, and without his efforts, Frank Vogel's team would be out for the count, whereas they currently still have slender hopes of making it through the regular season on a positive note.

The Lakers are currently 26-31 and may have to fight their way through the 'play-in' tournament to make it to the business end of the playoffs. With every defeat, you can see via real-time odds comparison sites that they get hit hard, which is an indication of the knife-edge that their season is currently precariously balanced on.

LeBron, however, can do no wrong, and this week he reached another historic NBA milestone when he became the scorer of the most points in the history of the league. His total of 44,152 points puts him three ahead of another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, though purists may point out that the record books usually only count regular-season points in such stats.

Those points came during yet another Laker loss, which tempered LeBron's reactions, but he was nonetheless rightfully proud to reach the summit;

"It's hard for me to speak on it now because I hate doing anything when it comes in a loss. And we had an opportunity to win a big game tonight. Been appreciative of the opportunity to play this game at the highest level,"

"I love the game of basketball. I love being a part of the NBA and being able to inspire so many different sets of generations. I guess it's a pretty big deal."

That may be the biggest understatement of the century, but one can see why LeBron has his mind on more pressing matters. Despite his efforts, the Lakers are very poorly placed, and he'll need his teammates around him to weigh in with big displays over the course of the regular season run-in.

Russell Westbrook, in particular, needs to show that he can be part of a team as LeBron can't do it on his own.

LeBron is posting great numbers this season. His 29 points per game average are the highest he's had since 2009-10, and has managed 25 points plus in 17 consecutive games, and he's clearly enjoying himself.

"I don't need to score 30 a night, but I'm in one of the best zones offensively I've been in in my career,"

"And I don't plan on stopping. That's just how I feel. I feel fantastic." LeBron added, which comes counter to some speculation that the 37-year-old might be ready to call time on his glittering career.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes