LeBron James added another record to his ever-growing NBA resume on Monday, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most minutes played, postseason included, in the history of the sport.
James officially passed Abdul-Jabbar in the first half of the Lakers’ 138-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Including his 29 minutes on Monday, James has now played 66,318 career minutes, while Kareem has played 66,297.
Again, the playoffs are included in this number. The official record, like the all-time scoring record (which LeBron also owns after passing Kareem last season), only counts regular season minutes.
James currently sits third on that list with 54,664 minutes played, including Monday night, behind Karl Malone (54,852) and Abdul-Jabbar (57,446).
In terms of mileage, you have to consider LeBron’s 11,654 postseason minutes to paint an accurate picture of the insane workload he’s endured over his 20-plus NBA seasons.
In fact, those postseason minutes are significantly more stressful, both mentally and physically, for any player, let alone a player with the responsibilities of James, whose body and mind are taking a tremendous toll compared to the league’s best competitors playing at full speed pay competition level in the playoffs.
Having spent so much time on an NBA court and still putting up the numbers that LeBron puts up at almost 39 years old is starting to become inexplicable. We know he takes care of his body and mind. We know he has adjusted his game over the years by incorporating more 3-point shots to avoid at least some of the interior punishment. By and large, we know that LeBron has been relatively lucky with injuries, although again this is at least partly due to his meticulous care.
Still, the man entered his 21st season on Monday night averaging over 25 points, eight rebounds and more than six assists. Only two other guys in the league reach these statistical benchmarks: Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. LeBron has a better 2-point, 3-point and true shooting percentage than both.
There’s only so much you can do to explain what he does. Only your wildest imagination can fully grasp the rest.
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