SACRAMENTO — Midway through the first quarter Thursday night, LeBron James checked out against the Sacramento Kings, walking to the bench in the city where he played his first NBA regular season minutes more than 21 years ago.
It would be his last walk off the court before achieving another milestone. By the time his next shift ended in the second quarter, he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most minutes logged in the regular season, breaking the previous record of 57,446 minutes.
“I just think it’s just a commitment to the craft and to the passion and love I have for the game,” James said about his achievement — one in which he has spent more than 957 hours playing in professional basketball games.