The Sports Report: Why LeBron James is the greatest basketball player in history

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: One small basket for man, one giant end to the sports argument that has plagued mankind.

With his 36th point Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and silence a decades-long disagreement.

James is now officially and unquestionably the greatest basketball player to ever walk this earth, and no apologies necessary to those who still insist it is Michael Jordan.

Accomplished in front of a roaring crowd at Crypto.com Arena, on a fall-away jumper with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, this wasn’t just a milestone for a superstar, it was the coronation of a King.

James not only eclipsed 38,387 points, but he made more than 38,387 points in a debate that is surely now resolved.

Turn off “The Last Dance” videos, lose the romantic Bulls-colored glasses, separate the myths from the men, and the reality thunders down like a trademark James tomahawk dunk.

James, not Jordan, is the GOAT.

In breaking a seemingly unbreakable record that has stood for nearly 39 years — as long as Babe Ruth once held the career home run record after his retirement — James has checked the last box on a resume that doesn’t just dominate basketball but defines it.

He ranks first on the scoring list, more than 11,000 points ahead of the next active player, and nobody will ever catch him.

He ranks fourth on the all-time assists list having just recently passed assist specialist Steve Nash.

Continue reading here

How LeBron James claimed the NBA’s scoring crown, step by step

What Showtime Lakers and other legends are saying about LeBron James

LeBron James by the numbers: A comparison to Kareem for the NBA scoring record

Photos | Celebrities watching LeBron James pursue scoring record

GREATEST NBA PLAYER POLL

Do you agree with Bill Plaschke that LeBron James is the greatest player in NBA history? Vote for your pick as the greatest by clicking here. Results will be announced Monday.

SUPER BOWL

While playing at Long Beach Poly High and USC, JuJu Smith-Schuster dreamed of one day playing in the Super Bowl.

Six years into his NFL career, Smith-Schuster will get his opportunity.

The Kansas City Chiefs receiver could be a key player Sunday when the Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

“I’m super excited to represent Long Beach Poly and USC — and just Los Angeles,” Smith-Schuster said. “I’ll be repping in the Super Bowl.”

Smith-Schuster, 26, played five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing a one-year, incentive-laden $10.75-million contract with the Chiefs.

Continue reading here

Sunday
at Glendale, Ariz.
Philadelphia vs. Kansas City, 3:30 p.m. PT, Fox

SUPER BOWL POLL

We will win the Super Bowl? Click here to vote. Results will appear in Friday’s newsletter.

Super Bowl LVII: Start time, odds and halftime show

How growing up in an MLB clubhouse prepared Patrick Mahomes for NFL stardom

Eagles’ Jalen Hurts happy and humbled in run-up to historic Super Bowl matchup

RAMS

From Gary Klein: New Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur remembers the phone call.

In 2010, after Sean McVay interviewed for an NFL quality-control coaching job, Washington assistant Matt LaFleur called his younger brother to rave about the candidate.

“I think we all know what he was kind of talking about,” Mike LaFleur said of Matt, now coach of the Green Bay Packers, on Tuesday during a videoconference with reporters.

Thirteen years after learning about the then-precocious McVay, LaFleur is preparing to work side by side with him as the Rams attempt to rebound from a disastrous 5-12 record, the worst season-after performance by a Super Bowl champion in NFL history.

DUCKS

Frank Vatrano scored 2:15 into overtime, and the Ducks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Tuesday night in a matchup of two of the NHL’s worst teams.

Vatrano got his 12th goal when he beat Petr Mrazek from the left side of the net. Isac Lundestrom set up the game-winner with a cross-ice pass.

“It was a great play by Lundy all around, to hold on to that puck and find a lane for me,“ Vatrano said.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1936 — Jay Berwanger, University of Chicago halfback and Heisman Trophy winner, is the first player ever selected in the NFL Draft. The Philadelphia Eagles make the pick and eventually trade his rights to the Chicago Bears.

1950 — Man o’ War is selected the greatest horse of the half century by The Associated Press. Man o’ War, as a 2- and 3-year-old, is a winner in 20 of 21 races and holds five track records.

1962 — Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 59 points in a 136-120 victory over the New York Knicks and beats his own single-season scoring record of 3,033 by six points.

1964 — Billy Kidd and James Heuga win the first men’s Olympic Alpine skiing medals for the United States with a silver and bronze in the slalom.

1970 — Gordie Howe becomes the first NHL player to score 750 goals. Howe gets the milestone by beating Philadelphia Flyers goalie Bernie Parent 3:10 into the third period, but the Red Wings lose 5-3 at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium.

1983 — Wayne Gretzky puts on a show, scoring four goals in the third period of the Campbell Conference’s 9-3 win against the Wales Conference in the NHL All-Star Game held at New York’s Nassau Coliseum. He breaks Ted Lindsay’s record of three goals in an All-Star Game, set in 1950.

1986 — Atlanta’s Spud Webb, at 5-foot-7, wins NBA Slam Dunk competition. Webb receives a perfect 50 from the judges in the last two rounds to shock defending dunk champion Dominique Wilkins and the crowd at Dallas’ Reunion Arena.

1987 — Seattle’s Tom Chambers, a last-minute replacement for the injured Ralph Sampson, scores a game-high 34 points to lead the West to a 154-149 overtime win over the East in the NBA All-Star Game before 34,275 at the Kingdome.

1997 — Scotty Bowman becomes the first NHL coach to win 1,000 games as Detroit beats Pittsburgh 6-5 on Brendan Shanahan’s overtime goal. Bowman, the coach of six Stanley Cup champion teams, is 1,000-452-255 in regular-season games and 162-101 in the playoffs.

1998 — Johanna Ikonen scores twice and Tiia Reima and Sari Krooks score a goal and an assist as Finland beats Sweden 6-0 in the first Olympic women’s ice hockey game.

2003 — Mario Lemieux becomes the 10th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 assists. He has four in Pittsburgh’ 5-2 victory in Boston.

2004 — Marc Bulger throws a Pro Bowl-record four TD passes, and Detroit’s Dre’ Bly returns an interception 32 yards for the go-ahead score with 4:50 to play during the NFC’s rally from an 18-point deficit in the final 13 minutes of a 55-52 victory over the AFC. It’s the highest-scoring Pro Bowl in history.

2014 — At the Sochi Games, Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen becomes the oldest Winter Olympic gold medalist at 40 and ties Bjoern Daehlie’s record for most medals (12) won at the Winter Games. Bjoerndalen wins the men’s 10-kilometer biathlon sprint, breaking the record held by Canadian skeleton racer Duff Gibson, who was 39 when he won gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

2016 — Breanna Stewart has 25 points and 10 rebounds as No. 1 UConn again proves who rules the women’s game, running past No. 2 South Carolina 66-54.

2018 - Noriaki Kasai of Japan becomes first athlete in history to participate in 8 Winter Olympics in the ski jumping qualification prior to the Pyeongchang Games

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

LeBron James breaks the NBA scoring record. Watch and listen here.

Spud Webb wins the NBA Slam Dunk contest in 1986. Watch and listen here.