LeBron James stepped onto the court for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat on Thursday night, marking the 1,611th regular-season game of his career and tying Robert Parish’s long-standing NBA record.
Parish, known as "The Chief" during his playing days, held the milestone for nearly three decades. That record now belongs to James, the "King," who continues to pile achievements onto a career already defined by historic accomplishments.
At 41, James shows no signs of slowing down. He recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the Lakers to a 134-126 victory and their eighth straight win.
"I’ve always wanted to be available to my teammates, either in Cleveland, here, and now in LA," James said in Miami’s visiting locker room after the game. "It takes a lot. I mean, it’s a mental toll, man, trying to play a lot."
The games-played mark is the latest entry on a long list of NBA records for James, who holds the league’s all-time top spot in several categories, including points scored, minutes played, field goals made and field goals attempted.
"I think he understands the importance of his position," Lakers coach JJ Redick said Thursday. "And he talks all the time about not cheating the game and recognizing that he is one of the all-time greats. With that comes a lot of responsibility, and he does everything he can to live up to that responsibility."
James also holds NBA records for seasons played (23), All-Star selections (22) and All-NBA team selections (21). His 1,297-game streak of scoring in double figures in the regular season was snapped earlier this year.
"You just have to absolutely respect his level of competitive spirit," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He’s competing against not only the entire league, but he’s also competing against Father Time and he’s giving Father Time hell."
Hundreds of fans lined up around the end of the court where James was shooting an hour before tipoff Thursday, many with their phones out, just to watch him warm up. The Lakers had played in Houston on Wednesday night, landed in Miami at 3:59 a.m. Thursday and arrived at their hotel around 5:10 a.m.
James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who combined for 84 points in the Lakers’ 124-116 win at Houston on Wednesday, were all listed on the injury report around midday Thursday. Redick said he learned by mid-afternoon that James was among the players who chose to play despite the late arrival in Miami.
Doncic scored 60, James had a triple-double and Reaves scored 18 in the win.
"I think there’s just a high level of belief right now and they all want to play," Redick said.
James went 13 of 14 from the field in Wednesday’s win, tying the best shooting performance of his NBA career.
He hit his right elbow on the court in the final minutes of that game, remaining down briefly and grimacing in pain.
The Lakers originally listed him as questionable for Thursday with left foot arthritis, but James arrived at the arena hours before the game, went through his normal routine, fought through fatigue and decided to play in Miami, a city he called home for four seasons, winning the first two of his four NBA championships there.
"He’s doing so many impressive things," Spoelstra said.
James is expected to remain atop the games-played list for some time.
He entered Thursday 310 games ahead of Russell Westbrook, who has the second-most among active players.
That gap is nearly equal to four full seasons. Only 40 other NBA players have appeared in even half as many games as James.
It was fitting that James tied the mark in Miami, where he credits the Heat for helping him become the player he is today.
"I became a champion here, but I’ve always been a winner," James said. "My first year ever playing sports, I won a little league football championship and a basketball championship.
And then my second year, I repeated. I won three state championships in high school. I won a national championship in AAU basketball.
"I’ve always been a winner. I come from a winning cloth, I come from winning basketball, so I’ve always been a winner, but this is the place that helped me get over the hump."
Parish, who entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, had been the outright leader in career games played since April 6, 1996. He played in game No. 1,561 that night, breaking a tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time top spot.
Parish played 50 more regular-season games before retiring after the 1996-97 season. He started his NBA career with Golden State, spent more than a decade with Boston, and finished his 21-season run with Charlotte and Chicago.
"No player is better deserving to break that Ironman record, that 1,611 games played record, than LeBron," Parish told Sirius NBA Radio earlier this week. "He deserves it, in my opinion."
James said he appreciated the respect in Parish’s comments.
"Shout out Chief, man," James said. "I’ve been seeing some of the things that he’s been saying about me. There aren't a lot of those OGs who talk like that to the generation after them and also about me personally. So, shout out to Chief."
