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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leading scorer for nearly 40 years, but that title now belongs to LeBron James, who passed Abdul-Jabbar on Tuesday night. Leading up to the milestone, there was a lot of speculation regarding how Abdul-Jabbar would feel about losing the record, and losing it to James, specifically, given that the two have had somewhat of an icy public relationship. 

As it turns out. Abdul-Jabbar is fine with it. He's grateful for the time that he held the record, and happy to see the game continue to progress. His attitude was evidenced by the fact that he sat courtside to watch James break the record, and graciously congratulated him after he did. 

"Whenever a sports record is broken—including mine—it's a time for celebration," Abdul-Jabbar wrote in an Substack essay published Wednesday. "It means someone has pushed the boundaries of what we thought was possible to a whole new level. And when one person climbs higher than the last person, we all feel like we are capable of being more…. It's as if I won a billion dollars in a lottery and 39 years later someone won two billion dollars. How would I feel? Grateful that I won and happy that the next person also won. His winning in no way affects my winning." 

Despite the fact that they're both NBA royalty and part of the Lakers family, James and Abdul-Jabbar have never had a close relationship -- something James acknowledged last year when asked. When it comes to that disconnect between the two of them, Abdul-Jabbar blames himself, and points to the age difference between the two of them as a major roadblock. Abdul-Jabbar is nearly 40 years older than James, and he retired 15 years before James was drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. 

"LeBron said we don't have a relationship. He's right—and for that I blame myself," Abdul-Jabbar wrote. "Not for anything I did, but perhaps for not making more of an effort to reach out to him… That disconnect is on me. I knew the pressures he was under and maybe I could have helped ease them a bit. 

"I think the main reason that I never formed a bond with LeBron (again, entirely my fault) is simply our age difference. I established my scoring record in 1984—the year LeBron was born. When he started to make a name for himself, I was already pretty removed from the NBA world. Except for certain gala events, I was just like any other fan, watching games on my TV in my sweatpants while munching on too many unhealthy snacks." 

James and Abdul-Jabbar may never form the close bond that some share, but it's clear that there's ample mutual respect for what each have accomplished, both on and off of the court. 

"Bottom line about LeBron and me: LeBron makes me love the game again," Abdul-Jabbar said. "And he makes me proud to be part of an ever-widening group of athletes who actively care about their community." 

LeBron James scoring record commemorative gear now available

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