LOS ANGELES – LeBron James broke Michael Jordan’s NBA record for 30-point games in the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over Atlanta on Friday night.

With an 18-foot jumper with 5:58 to play for the last of his 30 points, James scored at least 30 points in a regular-season game for the 563rd time in his career, breaking the record set by Jordan in 2003. Jordan set the record in 1,072 games over 15 seasons, while James set the mark in his 1,523. Appearance in 22 seasons broke.

James idolized Jordan growing up in Akron, Ohio, and when he passed Jordan for fourth place on the NBA’s career scoring list in March 2019, that moment on the Lakers’ bench moved him to tears. He called Jordan “an inspiration” and “lightning in a bottle for me because I wanted to be like him.”

Coincidentally, in the Lakers’ 119-102 win over the Hawks, James also passed Dirk Nowitzki (1,522) for the fourth-most regular-season games played in NBA history.

James turned 40 last week and is one of the few remaining active players who personally witnessed Jordan during his 1990s with the Chicago Bulls.

But James shows absolutely no signs of slowing down in his record-breaking 22nd season: A night earlier, he scored 38 points against Portland, tying Jordan’s 30-point mark.

James made seven 3-pointers against the Blazers, tied for the third-most points ever by a player over 40 – just two games behind Jordan, just after he turned 40, with Washington.

James became the NBA’s top scorer last season and holds several other longevity records. He has scored at least 10 points in 1,253 consecutive games over the past 18 years, shattering the record (866) set by Jordan from 1986 to 2001.