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LeBron James was aware his historic run of scoring in double figures was threatened. At the decisive instant, however, he wasn't bothered.

The right decision was to pass the basketball – so he did. With that selfless act, the unprecedented record was over.

James's astounding streak of over 1,200 straight NBA regular season double-digit scoring performances was snapped during a recent game, when the league's career points king had only eight total points during the Los Angeles Lakers' close win against the Toronto Raptors. He made the clutch helper, finding Rui Hachimura to hit a triple to win the game.

“Zero,” James replied when asked on the record concluding. “The important thing is we won.”

A Team-First Play Delivers Victory

LeBron had the chance to tried to secure the contest – while also extending his record – with the last shot, yet he opted to dish the ball to Hachimura in the left corner. Rui connected, with LeBron celebrated with his hands in the air.

“Just playing basketball the right way. Always make the right play,” James noted. That has always been my M.O.. That’s how I learned to play. I’ve done that throughout my career.”

He is acutely aware of how many points he has during a game,” stated Lakers coach JJ Redick. He made the play as he has done so many times.”

The Streak's End Game

James re-entered the game for the final time with just over five minutes left, the result and the streak both hanging in the balance. His tally was a mere six points from a 3-for-15 performance then.

He managed a basket with 1:46 left to tie the game but then missed a 14-footer with one minute to go that would have taken him to ten points.

He didn’t take another shot – though the opportunity was there. A teammate passed him the ball as time wound down, however, James decided to make the extra pass instead of shooting.

“The basketball gods, if you do it correctly, they tend to reward you,” the coach concluded.

Reflecting on a Monumental Run

The record began over eighteen years ago. It was, by far the longest such streak the league has ever seen: Michael Jordan previously held a streak of 866 straight double-digit scoring games, Kareem recorded 787, and The Mailman was fourth on the list of 575 games.

He is such an unselfish player,” noted teammate Jake LaRavia.

“He’s just playing the sport. The chance was there but because of his nature as a player and just who he is as a person, he made the pass, passed it to Rui and claimed the victory.”

Reaching double digits had typically been a guarantee well before the fourth quarter began. Over the course of the record, he had reached the 10-point mark by the beginning of the final quarter over twelve hundred times coming into the contest.

However, two such single-digit games after three periods took place just days before: He had nine points going into the fourth against Dallas last week, followed by six going into the fourth versus the Suns earlier in the week.

He succeeded in extend the streak in the Phoenix game. The very next outing, it concluded – yet he was celebrating anyway.

“I always just make the right play. That is instinctive, win, lose or draw,” James declared. When you make the unselfish play, the basketball gods are always rewarding me.”