Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: LeBron James caps off ESPY’s speech by crowning himself in memorable moment

By Jeff Smith | Last updated 7/13/23

The winner of the 2023 ESPY's category for "Best Record-Breaking Performance" surely came as a surprise to no one, as LeBron James' name was called after breaking one of the most incredible NBA records in history. James, of course, surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA career scoring record last season, essentially cementing his spot at the very top of any debate over the greatest player in history.

James won the award by defeating tennis star Novak Djokovic, Mikaela Shiffrin who has the most World Cup wins of any alpine skier in history and F1 driver Max Verstappen who broke the record for most wins in a season. Following LeBron's speech, which also included him declaring that he will not be retiring now (or possibly anytime soon), the Los Angeles Lakers star treated fans with a celebration he's rarely pulled out.

James did the motion of putting on a crown, essentially pointing to his nickname, 'King James.'

LeBron James finished his ESPYS speech by putting the crown on pic.twitter.com/XUNYT0uuVM
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 13, 2023

If there was ever a moment deserving of this celebration, it'd be when he broke the record or received this incredibly high honor for doing so.
For good measure, it's safe to say that James, who's 38 currently, certainly hasn't lost a step when it comes to his play. The future Hall-of-Famer is fresh off a season in which he posted his second-highest points per game (28.9) in the past 13 years, with the only season higher coming in 2021-22 when he averaged 30.3 points per game.

James will not only go down as arguably the greatest player in history but also one who's managed to put together the type of career longevity that's essentially never seen. He's played in 1,421 regular-season games dating back to 2003-04 when he was 19 years old, along with 282 playoff games. Over that impressive stretch, James has averaged 27.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game while shooting 50.5 percent from the field for his entire career.

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