By Ira Kaufman

For the Mirror

Since LeBron James entered the NBA, I have had the privilege of personally witnessing most of his memorable games.

So naturally, I flew across the country to be in a seat in the crypto.com arena on Tuesday night when James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record to become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.

Entering Tuesday night’s game, LeBron needed 36 points to pass Kareem.

I felt that LeBron would try to get the record on Tuesday night at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder, instead of waiting until Thursday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, because the NBA trade deadline was Thursday, and he didn’t want to get upstaged by any monumental NBA trades.

Just to be on the safe side, I bought tickets a week before for both games.

Typically, LeBron warms up well before the fans are in the arena, but Tuesday night, 45 minutes before the game, he went through an individual workout in front of thousands of fans lined up around the court.

He practiced some sky hook shots, giving a hint that he would try to break the record with a sky hook to honor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s signature shot.

He shook the hand of almost every fan and media member who surrounded the floor, including the NBA’s No. 1 fan, the legendary Jimmy Goldstein, who was wearing his special rhinestone jacket.

My seat was in the lower corner behind the Oklahoma City bench. My thinking was that LeBron would break the record in the second half when the Lakers were shooting on my side of the court.

Many fans around me had flown from across the country to witness history.

I followed Aaron Judge for five games in his home-run record chase, and this basketball game had a home-run chase type of feel with the fans standing whenever LeBron had the ball on offense and running to the concession stands when he was out of the game.

I was at Kobe Bryant’s final game when he scored 60 points, and in that game it was clear his teammates were going to make sure he could shoot on every possession.

At the start of the OKC game, LeBron seemed content to let others shoot and on many possessions, he did not touch the ball (which I think is an overall problem for the Lakers).

He didn’t score his first point until five minutes into the game, but as he started putting on a show in the second quarter, finishing with 20 points in the half, no one had any doubts that the record was going to fall Tuesday.

The huge scoreboards around the arena kept a countdown of the number of points needed. When he was six points away from the record in the third quarter, the fans were standing and screaming like it was the last minute of an NBA Finals game.

It felt like he scored his last three buckets within seconds of each other as the crowd noise reached a crescendo.

I captured the first two shots on video from my phone and the final iconic shot with my camera (all videos/pictures on instagram@Iraonsports).

I took his record-breaking shot at a wider angle — just like my favorite picture of Michael Jordan’s last shot in Utah, so you can see the defenders and fans. It is ironic that both Jordan and LeBron’s shots were so similar.

The ovation after he sank the jump shot was deafening and continued as he walked around the floor with his arms raised and looked at the replay on the overhead scoreboard.

I am glad the NBA stopped the game for the presentation by Commissioner Adam Silver, and I loved the symmetry of Kareem handing the ball to LeBron. The embrace between these two legends was very special.

Two nights later, before Thursday’s game against Milwaukee, the Lakers held a ceremony honoring the achievement. The typically late arriving Laker fans were in their seats 20 minutes before the game.

Legendary Laker James Worthy introduced LeBron, who was surrounded by his mother, wife and three children. With Kareem standing to the side of the court, LeBron gave a moving speech.

He recounted that his love of the game of basketball began when he was toddler and his mother gave him a gift — a round orange sphere.

It was truly awesome to be in the arena and watch another of LeBron’s historic moments. While the Lakers appear to be far from another title appearance, I have a feeling LeBron will have another one or two magical moments before he retires.

I’m grateful to have witnessed many of his great moments and what we experienced this week — the breaking of one of the most hallowed records in sports.

Ira Kaufman, an Altoona native and traveling sports fan, hosts IRA on Sports on trueoldiesfla.com on Monday night from 7-8 p.m. It is also available on Soundcloud & iTUNES, search Ira On Sports. His column appears occasionally in Voice of the Fan.