LeBron James breaks Abdul-Jabbar's record; he also breaks his elbow in the LA Lakers’ loss

The king of NBA milestones, LeBron James, broke another record held by Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday night.

Unfortunately, his reward for such an achievement was a sore elbow — and a Lakers loss.

James broke Abdul-Jabbar’s record for the most career field goals in the regular season against the Denver Nuggets, but an elbow injury limited his contributions in crunch time of a 120-113 loss that ended the Lakers’ three-game winning streak.

After scoring over Denver center Nikola Jokic in the fourth quarter, James fell to the court and immediately grabbed his left elbow. He eventually got up and went to the bench with 3:58 remaining. He returned with 2:05 left and the Lakers down 112-111 before leaving again with 22 seconds left after Jokic scored consecutive baskets to give the Nuggets a 116-111 lead.

Sitting at his locker with his elbow wrapped in ice, James expressed frustration with referees not calling a foul on the play that led to his injury.

“That’s all [the referees] keep saying, ‘marginal.’ I’m so ... tired of that word,” James said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

And his elbow?

“It’s pretty sore right now,” James said. “It felt like one of those funny bone situations, but like, super more intense.”

It’s unclear if James will play against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

“Hopefully I’ll wake up tomorrow, and it doesn’t feel too much worse than it is now,” James said. “Or, if it feels better, that would be great. So, it’s day to day. We’ll see what happens.”

Jokic finished with a triple-double of 28 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. Jamal Murray had 28 points and two game-sealing free throws for Denver (39-24).

Lakers guard Luka Doncic complains about a call while guard Marcus Smart celebrates hitting a three-pointer.

James finished with 16 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

James entered the game needing to make three field goals to pass Abdul-Jabbar for the most made field goals in league history. James tied Abdul-Jabbar’s mark for most regular-season field goals when he dunked off a lob pass from Doncic with 8:33 left in the first quarter.

He set the new mark of 15,838 with a fadeaway jumper near the Lakers’ bench with 11.8 seconds left in the first quarter.

“I mean, it’s one of my patented shots,” James said about his record-breaking jumper. “It’s something I’ve worked on throughout my career. So, to be able to have that ability to make that shot is pretty cool.”

When James went to the bench with the Lakers (37-25) trailing 32-22 at the end of the quarter, the Denver Nuggets’ public address announcer told the crowd about his accomplishment. James was given a standing ovation from the fans at Ball Arena.

James finished the game with 15,842 career field goals. He became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer when he passed Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 38,387 points on Feb. 7, 2023.