LeBron James breaks NBA record for most games ever played

[p]"King" [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/james-lebron/nuIVxFJk/"]James[/a] passed the mark of 1,611 that Robert Parish had held since he retired in 1997.[/p][p]Four-time NBA champion James, 41, had equaled Parish's tally on Thursday in stunning fashion, posting a triple-double in the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-lakers/ngegZ8bg/"]Lakers[/a]' win over the Heat in Miami after the team arrived in Florida around 4 a.m. in the wake of a Wednesday night win in Houston.[/p][embed guid="62a03065-e9c9-47be-a6d4-41a6d14164ed" url="https://x.com/NBA/status/2035494913714852126?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"He's got to be insane," [/b]27-year-old teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/austin-reaves/xlCMu1nk/"]Austin Reaves[/a] said of James's continued appetite for excellence. [b]"Can't be normal things going on in his brain to do it so well at such a high level.[/b][/p][p][b]"There's nothing left to prove, but he finds something to continue to motivate him. It's a beautiful thing ... (if) there's anybody in the world that could take games off, mentally not be there in a film session, practice, whatever it might be, it could be him. And that's not how he's wired."[/b][/p][p]James, playing his unprecedented 23rd season, already holds a host of NBA records, including points scored, field goals made and field goals attempted and the longest streak of regular-season games with at least 10 points scored - 1,297 - in history.[/p][p]But James says those aren't the kind of records he had in mind when he launched his career.[/p][embed guid="3d7a0a22-6c77-4045-bd85-0c359acdb113" url="https://x.com/NBA/status/2035496820319609011?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"It's not like I'm writing things down or looking at the record books and saying, 'I'm going to get that, I'm going to get that, I'm going to get that,'" [/b]James said Thursday.[/p][p][b]"It just kind of happened. It was not on the list of things that I wanted to accomplish. Games played, all-time leader in points ... 10-point streak, those things was not in my mind.[/b][/p][p][b]"I wanted to be the greatest, one of the greatest, if not the greatest ever to play this game. I wanted to be an NBA champion. I wanted to possibly win Rookie of the Year, make All-Star appearances, win a gold medal, win some MVPs ... those were some of my goals.[/b][/p][p][b]"But some of the stuff that has been happening over the course of the last few years has been super-duper cool."[/b][/p][p]Including playoff games, James has amassed a total of 1,904 fixtures during his career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a distant second with 1,797 appearances, while Parish is third on 1,795.[/p][p]James's meticulous physical preparation allows him to achieve another key aim: simply to be ready when his team calls on him.[/p][p][b]"Availability, I've always wanted to be available to my teammates," [/b]James said.[/p][p][b]"It's a mental toll, trying to play a lot and being out there... I just give a lot of praise to the man above and (it's about) just loving the game and appreciating the game."[/b][/p]