LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer during the Los Angeles Lakers‘ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. James scored 36 points in just three quarters to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,887 career points.
It was an extremely hot ticket at Staples Center, with many celebrities in the building.
And there were especially a lot of people getting cell phone video of LeBron making history. Phil Knight was not one of those people.
An incredible photo emerged of LeBron’s fadeaway shot that broke the all-time scoring record. The photo was taken by Andrew D. Bernstein of Getty Images.
In the background of the photo, just about every fan is holding a phone to get video of a legendary sports moment.
And then there’s Knight, casually taking it in on the baseline with no phone out. The Nike founder watched alongside LeBron’s sons, Bronny and Bryce.
Another iconic shot from @ADBPhotoInc. pic.twitter.com/3lLHahYXVs
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 8, 2023
It was already an amazing photo, and then Knight’s casual way of taking in history took it to another level.
The photo has gone viral on Twitter.
Here’s a sampling of the reactions to a phoneless Knight watching LeBron’s record-breaking shot in an iconic photo:
Nike founder Phil Knight witnessing history by the man he signed 20 years ago…
No phone necessary. pic.twitter.com/ptkFDcBcDt
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) February 8, 2023
Phil Knight. 🙌 No screen. No need. https://t.co/YDPVjx38vS
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) February 8, 2023
Love that Phil Knight is the only one taking in history, everybody else is on their phone trying to record it. https://t.co/BfTFl1r7GC
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) February 8, 2023
Everybody : 🤳
Phil Knight: 😐 https://t.co/fqsYJ78pEV
— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) February 8, 2023
Phil Knight. No phone. Just vibes. pic.twitter.com/1leGSs8LPD
— Gary Striewski (@garystriewski) February 8, 2023
Phil Knight vs the phones. https://t.co/jotwABRLfA
— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) February 8, 2023
phil knight is the meme pic.twitter.com/gR0JZYdw8m
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) February 8, 2023

About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.
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