Thomas Bryant does not hide the fact that he did not realize that LeBron James could break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record when he demanded a pass from him during a historic action. After some time, the former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player emphasized that he was only doing what LBJ had asked him to do – he was to look for advantages in attack and try to use them. Some Internet users mocked his behavior.
February 7 this year LeBron James scored 38 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder, breaking the record for most regular season points scored for decades by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The situation occurred at the end of the third quarter, when the Lakers were losing by seven points.
Most fans’ attention was focused on James, but some of the more observant fans also noticed the behavior of Lakers basketball player Thomas Bryant, who, when LBJ was getting ready to make the historic shot, demanded the ball from him because a shorter defender was covering him. The fans had a lot of fun with this – Bryant later demanded a trade and was traded to the Denver Nuggets, with whom he won the NBA championship.
— I didn’t even notice it was that throw. When Bron says, “If I see you on the wing and there’s a shorter defender, position yourself accordingly and call for the pass. So I did what he told me and looked around. Just before taking the shot, I started wondering why there was so much excitement in the stands, admitted Bryant, quoted by fadewayworld.net.
Bryant revealed that it was only later that he realized what was going on. — I saw everyone had their phones out. I said to myself: “Isn’t he still four or six points away?” “We all know the rest of the story – he made the shot and then put his hands in the air,” Bryant added.
Ultimately, the Lakers lost that game, but LBJ at that moment went down in basketball history forever. The previous season was bittersweet for James for this reason – his team’s start did not fill fans with optimism. The situation changed only after the transfer window closed, when the club’s authorities made key changes thanks to which the Lakers not only entered the play-offs, but also managed to advance to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual champions.
