LeBron James Passes Shaq For Seventh In NBA Scoring With 28,597th Career Point In Cavs’ Loss To Bulls

LeBron James moved past former teammate Shaquille O’Neal for seventh place on the all-time NBA scoring list with his 28,597th career point in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 99-93 loss to the Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday night.

LeBron Passes Shaq For Seventh in NBA Scoring, Bulls Beat Cavs 99-93

James has moved up from 12th on the scoring list, and added two more points to get 28,599, three more than O’Neal. Ahead of the Cavs star are the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki in sixth place with 30,181 and Wilt Chamberlain with 31,419.

The 32-year-old James, a four-time MVP, scored 26 points on Wednesday and praised O’Neal, despite his frustration with the loss, Cleveland’s third straight and fifth in their last seven games.

“Shaq is an all-time great, and the most dominant player to ever play this game,” James said. “Much respect, he’s like a big brother of mine. Very extremely excited to see him get a statue outside of Staples Center. But I could care less about me passing him. Means absolutely nothing.”

The defending NBA champion Cavs (47-27) are now a half-game behind Boston for the Eastern Conference lead.

”Just in a bad spot right now,” said James, who had 10 rebounds and eight assists. ”I’m not disappointed with the effort. Just in a bad spot. We need to figure it out.”

James is on the brink of becoming the first player in NBA history to average at least 25 points in 13 straight seasons. He is still just under 10,000 points away from all-time leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points.

Michael Jordan holds the all-time record of 866 games straight games of at least 10 points.

Nikola Mirotic tied season highs with 28 points and six 3-pointers (his second consecutive game with both stats) and Jimmy Butler scored 25 for the Bulls.

”I feel it’s my time now. It’s never too late,” said Mirotic, who is now the first Bulls player to record six or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games. ”It’s a very important moment for the team.”

Rajon Rondo added 15 assists for Chicago and Robin Lopez had 10 points and 11 rebounds. The ninth-place Bulls moved within a game of Miami and Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.

Chicago also finished 4-0 against Cleveland to complete their first sweep of the Cavaliers since they won all three games during the 2011-12 season.

Kyrie Irving scored 20 for Cleveland, while Tristan Thompson added 15 points and nine rebounds. However, the Bulls outscored the Cavs 37-21 in the third quarter to erase a nine-point halftime lead and held on down the stretch.

Irving concurred with James that the Cavs will find their groove again soon despite this rough patch.

”We won’t be perfect in one day,” Irving said. ”But it’s no time to hold your head, I’ll tell you that. … We’re gonna be just fine. It’s ugly right now. It’s real, real ugly.”

Kevin Love fouled out with eight points and 10 rebounds when he got whistled on a basket by Butler moments after James tied O’Neal on a layup with 7:29 remaining in the game.

Cavs guard Iman Shumpert had four points and an assist in 22 minutes after missing two games because of a sore right knee. Forward Kyle Korver missed his second consecutive game because of a sore left foot. Richard Jefferson, meanwhile, sat out due to tendinitis in his left knee.

The Cavs, meanwhile, next host Philadelphia on Friday to begin a three-game home-stand.

The Bulls will host Atlanta on Saturday.

CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 08: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots the ball during the second half against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.