LeBron James accused of ‘catering to his legacy’ by stat-padding

LeBron James extended his impressive double-digit scoring streak to 1,297 games, but some are questioning how he got there.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost for the first time since Nov. 12 Monday night, getting blown out by the Phoenix Suns 125-108. But perhaps more important than the final score, was the fact that LeBron James scored at least 10 points for the 1,297th consecutive game.

For a while, it looked like James’ streak might come to an end Monday night. But after he fought to keep the record alive, former NBA player Chandler Parsons was among many who felt like James was too concerned with getting to 10 points during the loss to Phoenix.

“I didn’t like it. This was the first time in my life I saw an older LeBron James who played and looked like his age,” Parsons said Tuesday morning on Run It Back. “He definitely was hunting for it, he was not coming out until he got it. This just felt like the first step of on the way out and like kind of catering to his legacy instead of focusing on this season and the game.”

James shot 3-10 from the field and 1-4 from behind the three-point line en route to keeping his double-digit scoring streak alive. And it wasn’t until about midway through the fourth quarter that James reached 10 points by hitting his first three of the game. Less than a minute later, James was pulled from the game as the Lakers had already waved the white flag.

With Phoenix in command of the game throughout the second half, James should have been hunting for his 10 points. It’s been almost two decades since James scored single digits in a game, let him keep the record going in a blowout loss if he wants to.

If James forced his way to 10 points by chucking up threes in a close game, by all means, call him out for caring more about his legacy than wins. If he played 45 minutes and took 20 shots in a blowout loss to get there, by all means, call James out for stat-padding. But James played 30 minutes and took 10 shots. It doesn’t matter that he’s nearly 41 years old, LeBron James taking 10 shots in 30 minutes is never selfish.