🔗 Share this article

The Lakers star knew his monumental streak of putting up 10+ points was threatened. At the decisive instant, however, it was not his focus.

The smart move involved passing the ball – which is exactly what he did. Following that play, the legendary streak came to an end.

LeBron's staggering streak of 1,297 consecutive NBA regular season outings scoring at least ten ended this past Thursday, as basketball's greatest scorer had only eight total points in the Los Angeles Lakers' close win against the Toronto Raptors. He made the decisive pass, feeding teammate Rui Hachimura for a three-point shot as time expired.

“Zero,” James said in response regarding the conclusion of his run. “We won.”

A Team-First Decision Delivers the Win

He might have sought to clinch the contest – and preserved the streak – in the closing seconds, instead, he decided to pass to Hachimura stationed in the corner. Hachimura made the shot, with LeBron exulted with his hands in the air.

You have to play basketball the proper way. Make the smart play,” James remarked. That is my M.O.. It's how I was taught to play. I've played that way my whole career.”

“LeBron is very conscious of how many points he has at all times,” commented Lakers coach JJ Redick. “He did it as he has done countless times.”

The Run's Final Moments

He returned to the contest one last time at just over five minutes left, the outcome and his personal record on the line. At that stage, he had six points from 3-of-15 shooting then.

He scored with 1:46 left to tie the game and missed a mid-range jumper with 1:01 left which could have taken him into double figures.

He avoided taking a subsequent shot – though the opportunity was there. A teammate passed him the ball as time wound down, yet LeBron decided to dish it off instead.

“The basketball gods, if you approach it the proper way, they tend to bless you,” Redick stated.

A Look Back at a Monumental Record

James's streak commenced back in January 2007. It was, by far the longest streak of its kind in professional basketball: MJ had 866 straight games with 10+ points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 787 such games, and The Mailman had the fourth-longest run with 575.

LeBron is such a pass-first superstar,” noted Lakers center a fellow Laker.

“He’s just playing hoops. He could have shot but given his nature as a player and his personality as an individual, he executed the team play, found Rui and claimed the game.”

Reaching double digits had typically been a formality long before the start of fourth quarters. Over the course of the record, he had reached the 10-point mark by the beginning of the final quarter over twelve hundred times before this game.

Yet two of those rare games below ten points through three quarters took place recently: He had nine points entering the final quarter versus the Mavericks on 28 November, then had six points going into the fourth against Phoenix earlier in the week.

James managed to extend the streak against the Suns. The very next outing, it concluded – but he still rejoiced regardless.

“I always just make the right play. That’s automatic, no matter what,” James declared. When you make the unselfish play, the sports deities forever giving back to me.”