With 9:11 remaining in the first quarter of the Cavs’ eventual 114-108 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks, James reached 27,410 points for his career, doing what Malone did best: scoring off an offensive rebound. The bucket edged James past Malone for eighth on the all-time scoring list.
James finished with 34 points on the night, bringing his career total to 27,442.
The occasion of nearing Malone in the history books caused James to reflect on him. Malone, a three-time MVP and one-time champion, died in September 2015 at age 60.
“I just think [of] his dominance in his era,” James said at shootaround Tuesday morning. “His ability to score the ball, his ability to rebound the ball. He’s just very dominant. He was the first person that I actually got an opportunity to see my rookie year. I ate pregame lunch with him, rookie year, [before] my first game in Sacramento. He came to my hotel room in Sacramento, we ate [a] pregame meal, just talked about what it’s like to be a rookie in the league.
“He gave me a bunch of stories, and so it was very sad when I [saw] him pass. And, obviously, you know every time I saw him I called him Uncle Mo every time, because he was always just there for me. To see his name right there, and to see me with a notion of what could happen tonight, it’s just very special.”
James said he still remembers Malone’s message that day.
“It was just about hard work and dedication,” James said. “Whatever you give to the game, the game will give back to you. … That was already in my head, but when you hear it from someone who had accomplished so much, it resonates even more.”
As James has climbed the all-time scoring ranks, he has passed a diverse group of players along the way. The past several players he passed were big men — Malone for eighth, Elvin Hayes for ninth, Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th — but he also found himself stacking his accomplishments against wing players: Oscar Robertson for 11th and Dominique Wilkins for 12th.
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