James officially passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (66,297 combined regular-season and playoff minutes) for the record, now having logged more game time on an NBA court than any player in league history
Lakers star LeBron James looks down the court during the first quarter of their game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night in Philadelphia. James officially passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (66,297 combined regular-season and playoff minutes) for the NBA record for career minutes played. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James once again made history in the “City of Brotherly Love,” becoming the league’s all-time minutes leader for the regular season and playoffs combined in Monday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
After playing one minute in the second quarter and nine within the game’s first 13 minutes, James officially surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (66,297 combined regular-season and playoff minutes) as the career minutes leader, officially spending more time on an NBA court than any other player in league history.
James entered Monday at 66,289 minutes – 54,635 in the regular season and 11,654 in the playoffs. The four-time league MVP and NBA Finals MVP was already the league’s all-time playoff minutes leader and the only player to accumulate at least 10,000 minutes in the postseason.
Abdul-Jabbar is still the all-time leader in regular-season minutes at 57,446. He and Karl Malone (54,852) are the only players ahead of James in all-time regular-season minutes.
James, the league’s all-time leading scorer, passed late Lakers icon Kobe Byrant for third place on the NBA’s career regular-season scoring list on Jan. 25, 2020, in Philadelphia.
REDDISH UPDATE
Fifth-year wing Cam Reddish missed his third consecutive game because of left adductor soreness.
Reddish suffered the injury in the first quarter of last Tuesday’s victory over the Utah Jazz, missing the final three quarters of the matchup. He entered Monday as questionable – as he also did for Saturday’s road win against the Cleveland Cavaliers – before being ruled out about two hours before tipoff.
“He’s coming along,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “He’s coming along. He’s getting close. He’s extremely close, actually.”
With Reddish out, second-year guard Max Christie started off Monday as the primary defender against four-year Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey, who entered the matchup averaging 26.4 points (46.1% shooting, 40.2% from 3-point range), 6.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds.
“In terms of what I’ve seen, just what we’ve all come to know and love about Max is just his willingness to compete, take on tough assignments and just a kid that’s going to be special in this league,” Ham said. “He’s laying the foundation for what we all believe will be a very strong career, long career.
“And he’s just getting started. But the thing I love, he’s not putting the cart before the horse. He’s really focusing on the details of the game and the little things such as defending and digging into the preparation and study of those tough matchups. It’s only going to make him better.
Rui Hachimura (nasal fracture), Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel bursitis – inflammation) and Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion – swollen joint) also remain sidelined.
ROOKIE DEBUTS
Rookie guard Jalen Hood-Schifino made his regular-season debut against the 76ers when he subbed into the game late in the first quarter.
The No. 17 pick in June’s NBA draft was out for nearly a month because of a right patella contusion he suffered during the Lakers’ Oct. 13 preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors.
He was available in the Lakers’ previous four games but didn’t see any game action until Monday.
