LeBron James arrived on Thursday just 10 minutes after the pass Kareem Abdul Jabbar for the most in NBA regular-season history, having passed him in total minutes (playoffs included) last year. He will likely set the regular season scoring record against the Kings. James discussed the success with Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“I just think it’s just a commitment to the craft and the passion and love that I have for the game.said James. “I don’t take much time in the off-season. Now a little more time, I didn’t give myself much time in the off-season, regardless of whether I played the ten finals in a row and just always tried to keep my body in top shape.

“And, as I said, I was able to play a lot of minutes and be injury-free and available for most of my career. I wouldn’t say injury free. We all have our injuries in this league and in this sport. But being available to my teammates, the franchises, the three franchises that I play for, for the majority is something that I took very seriously.”

James has been recovering from an injury in recent weeks and missed two games last week. According to Buha and Amick, he is open to a later break if it makes sense in the schedule.

“I’m just not the type of person who enjoys sitting games when I’m reasonably healthy,said James. “It doesn’t matter. It was just never my thing. … If there’s an opportunity where it could benefit my body and my game long-term for the benefit of the team, then I’m always open to that conversation. So we’ll see what happens.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

• Although the vision of creating a big three Kawhi Leonard, Paul George And James Harden Ultimately it didn’t work out, Harden still has that Hair clippers Strong leadership and big wins in a competitive year, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Leonard and Harden will have a chance to work together, but the former has been out all year as he recovers from injury. George, on the other hand, left this offseason. Harden is averaging 22.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting 35.3% from distance. The Clippers entered Thursday 15-12. “If he has a bad shooting night, he will probably come back and play well the next night.“Head coach Tyronn Lue said. “That’s what good players do. They recover. We asked a lot of him. He did a lot offensively making the right passes, reading and also scoring the basketball. And at 35, that can get tiring. So we ask a lot of him.“
• News San Diego Hair clippers Guard Elijah Harkless is drawing NBA interest ahead of the G League Showcase, SNY’s Ian Begley reports (via Twitter). He averages 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 steals for the LA-based G League club. Harkless went undrafted out of UNLV in 2023 and spent two consecutive offseasons on a training camp contract with the Clippers.
• The Kings have won three of their last four games and four of their last six games, but have lost a few winnable games to start the season and sit at a lopsided record of 13-14, good for 12th place in the Western Conference. Head coach Mike Brown challenged star De’Aaron Fox to help the team stay focused on the details, according to Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link). “Fox needs to step up,said Brown. “He’s a great player, on the verge of becoming a superstar. When you’re that guy, you have a lot of responsibility, and he’s that guy. And he can’t help not being locked in, and he certainly can’t help letting it go if we’re not (locked in) as a team.“
• Dennis Schröder appeared in his first game as a member of the warriorstarting Thursday after he was traded from the Nets. As ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk (Twitter link) observed, Jonathan Kuminga moved to the bench after each of Golden State’s last six games.