February 7, 2023 – Los Angeles, CA: 38,388 Points
April 6, 2025 – Elmont, NY: 895 Goals

Three thousand miles apart and just one day shy of fifty months between them, two unforgettable moments unfolded. Two seemingly unbreakable records shattered.

LeBron James began his journey in 2003. Over the span of two decades, he has led his teams to greatness and captured four NBA championships with three different franchises. But perhaps his most iconic feat came when he eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s long-standing scoring record, set all the way back in 1984. Nearly 40 years after Kareem passed Wilt Chamberlain in a Lakers jersey, LeBron made history in the same colors.

On a February night in downtown Los Angeles, inside a packed Crypto.com Arena – with Kareem watching courtside – LeBron James sank a signature turnaround jumper in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That basket gave him 38,388 career regular-season points, the most in NBA history. Today, he has now surpassed 42,000 and shows no signs of slowing down.

Just over two years later, another record fell – this time on the ice. Nearly 20 years after his first NHL game, Alexander Ovechkin stood on the brink of surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s revered goal record of 894. While Gretzky’s mark – set in 1999 – wasn’t as old as Kareem’s, it was equally legendary and widely considered untouchable.

Unlike LeBron, Ovechkin has spent his entire career with one team: the Washington Capitals. Also unlike LeBron, who broke the record at home, Ovechkin’s milestone came on the road in an April tilt against the Islanders at UBS Arena in New York. In front of a sold-out crowd, many wearing red Capitals jerseys, Ovechkin scored a 2nd period power-play goal – his 895th – to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Both records were broken in an instant. A single basket, a single goal. Yet their significance transcended that moment. Play stopped. The arenas erupted. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stepped onto the court and the ice for honorary ceremonies. Standing beside them were legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wayne Gretzky, graciously passing the torch. Montages of both players’ achievements played on the jumbotron as LeBron James and Alexander Ovechkin delivered heartfelt speeches, thanking those who had helped them reach this moment. All of this made the magnitude of each accomplishment unmistakable.

We don’t yet know when LeBron James or Alex Ovechkin will retire, or if anyone will ever surpass their records. But for two extraordinary moments, separated by time and distance, two-generational icons accomplished what once seemed impossible. And in doing so, they carved their names even deeper into the annals of sports history.