With LeBron James just a few steps away from reaching the NBA’s all-time historic scoring milestone, Kyrie Irving can’t be much surprised by this impending achievement.
Irving, who shared the court with James within the Cleveland Cavaliers for three seasons and led the franchise to clinch its maiden title in 2016, delivered nothing but love to his former teammate who is now on the cusp of another basketball history.
“I definitely saw this when we were playing together,” Irving said in the postgame after leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 121-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, via ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “His ability to prepare himself mentally, spiritually, emotionally, game to game, day to day. I’ve been quoted on saying it’s hard to be LeBron James, or any superstar, or any entertainment, sport, athletic or business industry, because all eyes are on you. But he’s handled it extremely well.”
James wasn’t able to suit up on Monday night due to left ankle soreness, leaving his scoring mark with no such progress yet.
The superstar forward remains 117 career points away from surpassing the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the all-time leaderboard. Should he be activated up next and maintain his 27.2 points per game average this season, he will be on pace to shatter the record against the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles.
As such, the Nets All-Star point man handed the well-deserved flowers on the greatness of the 38-year-old James despite being absent to play, commending his composure in shouldering the burden of expectations ever since his youth days.
“We gave the keys to the whole entire business to an 18-year-old kid and now he’s 38 years old and he’s still dominating,” Irving continued.
“I don’t think we should be surprised. I think we should congratulate and celebrate him as much as possible. Continue to enjoy the shows that he put on because it’s not going to be for too much longer.”
