The Los Angeles Lakers picked up a dramatic 123-120 win over the Toronto Raptors, with Rui Hachimura hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to seal it.
But the Lakers’ win was overshadowed by another historic moment. LeBron James’ run of 1,297 consecutive games with at least 10 points finally came to an end.
He finished the night with just eight points. He had a chance to hit double digits late on, but opted to pass instead, setting up Hachimura for the winner.
It was the first time he had failed to score in double figures since January 2007 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Fans react as LeBron James’ legendary scoring run comes to an end
NBA fans had a hard time believing that LeBron’s 10-point streak finally came to a close after nearly two decades.
One fan said: “Only 24 players in NBA history have even played that many games.”
“He gave it up for the game winner respect,” another fan wrote.
A third fan shared: “Game winning dime to end the streak is poetic script writing.”
“Now this is a conundrum for the haters. If he took the shot, he was stat padding to get 10 and should have passed it. If he passed up the shot and Rui missed. He was scared to shoot! And finally he couldn’t get 10 pts. He is washed! This man creates so many emotions!,” another supporter posted.
A fifth fan was ironic: “The guy who ‘only cares about his stats’ just gave up an 18-year long streak to win the game.”
Another one wrote: “It’s still LeBronto, it just means something different now.”
What the world looked like the last time LeBron scored less than 10
It has been a long time since James finished a game without reaching double digits.
The last time he did not get to 10 points was way back in:
- Bronny James was 2 years old
- Copper Flagg was 15 days old
- Kevin Durant was not in the NBA
- X (formerly known as Twitter) was 9 months old
- The iPhone was not released yet
- Luka Doncic was 7 years old
Now, at this stage of his career, it felt inevitable that the streak would end sooner or later.
With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves now leading the Lakers, James has settled into a new role as he winds down his career.
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