The Boston Celtics offered their congratulatory reactions to the history-setting performance of LeBron James from Tuesday night.
In front of the Los Angeles Lakers home crowd, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s new all-time leading scorer. James nailed a turn-around jumper in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder to claim sole possession of the historic feat. In doing so, the 38-year-old basketball icon shattered a previous 39-year-old record, while his scoring total reached 38,390 points — a record that many questioned whether or not anyone would ever reach.
Nevertheless, James reached the mountain top and several members of the Celtics, like many worldwide, witnessed the big night and supplied some admiring words afterward.
Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla noted his appreciation for James’ continuous efforts in setting a standard for those across the league.
“It’s cool to be in a league where you see something like that happen,” Mazzulla said before Wednesday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers, per CLNS Media video. “That’s really, really hard to accomplish. Obviously who he is as a person, a player, the work he puts in. I think that’s an inspiration to the league to push yourself and try to achieve a level of greatness. So, grateful for kind of the standard he set for what you have to do and it was cool to see.”
Back in 2016, then-Milwaukee Bucks rookie Malcolm Brogdon had his first hallmark moment against James, who at the time was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brogdon slammed a vicious reverse dunk over James en route to his Rookie of the Year campaign and made sure to revisit that highlight when he vocalized his respects.
Brogdon also highlighted James’ efforts in striving toward social equality for those of the Black community in the United States.
“A monumental moment for one of the greats,” Brogdon said, per NBC Sports Boston video. “A lot of respect to him, what he’s done over his career, his longevity. It’s remarkable really. … One of my memories is dunking on him my rookie year. That sticks out my mind because that’s LeBron. It’s everything he’s accomplished, what a great player and everything he’s stood for even off the court, especially for the Black community — trying to make this world a better place.”
Blake Griffin, who has shared the court plenty of times with James throughout his 13-year career, acknowledged the longevity that James has managed to build, now in year 20. Griffin also referenced the spotlight that James was in the center of since his days as a high school prospect at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
“Obviously, incredibly impressive,” Griffin told reporters postgame at TD Garden. “His longevity is mind-blowing and for him to do it the way he’s done it with so many expectations on him since he was — when I first heard about him — about 15, 16 years old. … He’s exceeded people’s expectations. That’s unbelievably impressive so I’m happy for him. It’s a good look for the NBA to have a guy leading the way like that.”
