Los Angeles, 4 January (H.S.): LeBron James surpassed Michael Jordan's NBA record of 30 points during the Los Angeles Lakers' match against Atlanta on Friday night.

With 5:58 minutes remaining, James scored at least 30 points in the regular season for the 563rd time in his career, breaking the record set by Jordan in 2003. Jordan set the record in 1,072 career games over 15 seasons, while James broke the record in his 1,523rd appearance over 22 seasons.

James idolized Jordan during his childhood in Akron, Ohio, and when he surpassed Jordan to become fourth on the NBA's career scoring list in March 2019, the moment brought him to tears on the Lakers' bench.

Incidentally, James also broke Dirk Nowitzki's (1,522) record for the fourth-most games played in a regular season in NBA history during his move from the Hawks to the Lakers.

James turned 40 last week, and is one of the few active players who personally saw Jordan at his peak with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

James scored 38 points a night earlier against Portland to equal Jordan's 30-point mark.

James has scored at least 10 points in 1,253 consecutive games over the last 18 years, surpassing the record set by Jordan from 1986 to 2001 (866).

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar