Kobe Bryant congratulated LeBron James for scoring 30,000 points in his career during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game versus the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.
The former L.A. Lakers shooting guard gave props to the Cavaliers small forward on his personal Twitter account.
The two future Hall-of-Famers became friends later in their careers as they developed a friendship based on mutual respect. James and Bryant had a rivalry-that-was-not with one or the other making it to the NBA Finals from 2007 to 2015 but never facing each other in the championship round.
With the clock running down in the first quarter and needing a single point to achieve the milestone, James made a 19-footer with 1.1 seconds to go, scoring his 30,000th and 30,001st points for his career. Spurs fans cheered and his teammates congratulated their leader as the quarter ended.
James is now the youngest player to reach the 30,000-point plateau at 33 years, 24 days, three weeks. Prior to the game, Bryant was the youngest to score 30,000 at 34 years, 104 days.
It’s an exclusive club with only seven members. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Michael Jordan (32,292), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Dirk Nowitzki (30,837 and counting) and now James.
Nowitzki was also another member of the 30K club to congratulate LeBron saying, “Congrats @KingJames. Welcome to the club!!!”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement to congratulate James.
“Congratulations to LeBron on reaching 30,000 points — yet another milestone in an extraordinary career that continues to inspire.”