LeBron James Says He “Doesn’t Mind Lending” Cavs’ Single-Game Scoring Mark To Kyrie Irving

LeBron James will be the first to say that he’s always preferred setting up teammates for scores than getting buckets himself. But the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar is equally equipped to both – look no further than The King topping his franchise’s all-time marks in assists and points.

That’s just two of the many categories in which James leads the Cavaliers, of course. His consistent all-around dominance has allowed him to rack up stats with ease, and will continue to do so even as he plays the latter portion of his career in Cleveland, too.

After Kyrie Irving’s 57-point masterpiece against the San Antonio Spurs broke his single-game scoring record, though, LeBron insisted he’s not worried about getting that achievement back – anytime soon, at least.

Hmm. “Lend” suggests that James will only allow his young teammate to possess the record for a short while. And if he’s intent on taking it, we’re fully convinced he could make it happen. It was barely over a year ago the four-time MVP scored a career-high 61 points with the Miami Heat, after all.

But LeBron is nearing a different stage of his career. While he’ll always be numbers-conscious, winning matters far more to the 12 year-veteran than anything else. The ceaseless energy it takes to even come close to registering such a performance could easily render a player with James’ mileage weary – just look what Thursday’s game did to Irving:

We think Kyrie’s record is pretty safe, basically. LeBron simply has more important matters to worry about given his long list of accomplishments and nagging recent injuries.

Having said that, we sure wouldn’t mind watching The King try to top 57 at some point over the next few years.