NBA ignores Oscar and reinforces curse on LeBron’s new record – 03/18/2024 – Sports

When a timing problem delayed the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers by 20 minutes, LeBron James smiled wryly and said, “I’m too old for this shit.”

But it’s not. At 39 years old, the American star finished the match with 40 points, equaling his best mark of the season, scoring 49,749 points in his career. The number now puts him ahead of Oscar Schmidt, until then considered the greatest scorer of all time, with 49,737.

The new record, however, was beaten in the United States. At least, it was not praised by the NBA during the game, on the Crypto Arena court, nor on the league’s social media profiles, where Stephen Curry’s 31 points, which contributed to the Warriors’ 128-121 victory, gained more prominence. .

There is no unified official ranking that counts the highest scorers in world basketball, but Oscar’s brand has always been highlighted in articles on the FIBA ​​(International Basketball Federation) website, in texts on the CBB (Brazilian Basketball Confederation) portal and on the Mão Santa’s own website.

Oscar scored 49,737 points in official team matches and for the Brazilian national team, with which he competed in nine competitions. In 2013, the Brazilian entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in the USA.

LeBron, who promises to compete in the Paris Games and is in his 21st season in the NBA, registered the brand considering the NBA regular season, playoffs, play-in, In Season Tournament (the NBA Cup), All-Star Games, national team USA and official international team matches.

The star also defended his country in FIBA ​​basketball, which has different rules, on five occasions. In the first of them, in 2004, at the Athens Olympics, he was part of the only “Dream Team” that failed on the highest stage of international basketball. He lost to Argentina, who took the gold. The Americans left the tournament with bronze.

Then, at the 2006 World Cup, another bronze, with a defeat to Greece, who would lose the final to Spain. With the reinforcement of Kobe Bryant on the team, James achieved gold three times in the following competitions: FIBA ​​Americas Championship (2007), Beijing Olympics (2008) and London Olympics (2012).

There are other counts that already put the American at an advantage over the Brazilian, such as the one that cites 1,763 points in pre-season games, which are not considered official.

Now, however, there are no more accounts in which he is not ahead of Oscar. The curious thing is that once again the American reaches an important milestone without celebrating completely.

In every big milestone he achieves, his team is defeated. It was also like this in March 2019, when he passed Michael Jordan on the points list, as his Lakers were defeated by the Nuggets. In January of the following year, he left Kobe Bryant behind, but again with a setback, this time, against the 76ers.

In March 2022, he took second place in history, surpassing Karl Malone, but being defeated by the then weak Wizards team. In February last year, he became the greatest scorer in NBA history, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but again with a failure, against the Thunder.

More recently, he reached the mark of 40 thousand points in regular seasons throughout his career, an unprecedented rate in the history of the NBA, but once again he left the court defeated, on that occasion, by the Denver Nuggets, current champion of the league.

“LeBron needs to stop breaking these records, because every time we lose,” joked center Anthony Davis.

The NBA, however, does not usually care about the outcome of matches to use the star’s image to promote the league.

For Ivan Martinho, professor of sports marketing at ESPM, “LeBron is one of the league’s great protagonists, who broke the limits of the basketball fan base, with his achievements and personality, generating interest far beyond the four lines.”

“What differentiates athletes like LeBron is precisely their ability to maintain themselves at the highest level, or to improve, even when they are part of a group that is not in a good moment”, says Thiago Freitas, from Roc Nation Sports, a company that manages athletes’ careers.

The NBA really adopts this strategic line. Both in the United States and in other parts of the world, it praises the achievement with posts, special artwork, commemorative videos, exclusive interviews and does not mention the match, leaving this work to the news sites.

“Regardless of what is happening collectively, when an athlete reaches historic milestones, like LeBron achieved, these facts, these achievements, they have to be highlighted and celebrated”, argues marketing specialist Fábio Wolff.

The curse haunts LeBron not only in records, but also in historical milestones. When he scored 10 thousand points in his career, the number 23, at the time with the Cavs, lost to the Celtics, in 2008. When he reached 30 thousand points, back in Cleveland, he succumbed against the San Antonio Spurs, in 2018. With 40 thousand , the most recent, was surpassed by Nikola Jokic and company, who also ruined the unveiling night of the Kobe Bryant statue in February.

The exception that confirms the rule is at the 20 thousand mark, when, alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he helped the Heat beat the Warriors in 2013.