Dr. King, Nash, Bevel, and other people organized a second march to be held on Tuesday, March 9, 1965. They wanted clergy and citizens from across the nation to join them. Hundreds of people joined the call from the SCLC as they were outraged at television images of Bloody Sunday. The Civil Rights Movement grown in more influence. To prevent another outbreak of violence, SCLC attempted to gain a court order that would prohibit the police from interfering. Instead of issuing the court order, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Minis Johnson issued a restraining order, prohibiting the march from taking place until he could hold additional hearings later in the week. Based on past experience, some in the SCLC were confident that Judge Johnson would eventually lift the restraining order. They didn't want to alienate one of the few southern judges who had displayed sympathy to their cause by violating the injunction. The SCLC didn't have a large infrastructure in place to support the long march, one for which the marchers were equipped. They knew that violating a court order could result in punishment for contempt, even if the order is later reversed.
Some people in Selma movement, both local and from across the country, wanted to march on Tuesday to protest both the "Bloody Sunday" violence and the systematic denial of black voting rights in Alabama. Both Hosea Williams and James Forman argued that the march must proceed and by the early morning of the march date, and after much debate, Dr. King had decided to lead people to Montgomery. Assistant Attorney General John Doar and former Florida governor LeRoy Collins, representing President Lyndon Johnson, went to Selma to meet with King and others at Richie Jean Jackson's house and privately urged King to postpone the march. The SCLC president told them that his conscience demanded that he proceed, and that many movement supporters, especially in SNCC, would go ahead with the march even if he told them it should be called off. Collins suggested to King that he make a symbolic witness at the bridge, then turn around and lead the marchers back to Selma. King told them that he would try to enact the plan provided that Collins could ensure that law enforcement would not attack them. Collins obtained this guarantee from Sheriff Clark and Al Lingo in exchange for a guarantee that King would follow a precise route drawn up by Clark. On the morning of March 9, 1965, this day would be known as Turnaround Tuesday. Collins handed Dr. King the secretly agreed route. King led about 2,500 marchers out on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and held a short prayer session before turning them around, thereby obeying the court order preventing them from making the full march, and following the agreement made by Collins, Lingo, and Clark. He did not venture across the border into the unincorporated area of the county, even though the police unexpectedly stood aside to let them enter. This plan angered many protesters as this plan was created in secret without input from SNCC.
As only SCLC leaders had been told in advance of the plan, many marchers felt confusion and consternation, including those who had traveled long distances to participate and oppose police brutality. King asked them to remain in Selma for another march to take place after the injunction was lifted. That evening, three white Unitarian Universalist ministers in Selma for the march were attacked on the street and beaten with clubs by four KKK members. The worst injured was Reverend James Reeb from Boston. Fearing that Selma's public hospital would refuse to treat Reeb, activists took him to Birmingham's University Hospital, two hours away. Reeb died on Thursday, March 11 at University Hospital, with his wife by his side. Many people mourned the death of Rev. James Reeb. Tens of thousands held vigils in his honor. President Johnson called Reeb's widow and father to express his condolences (he would later invoke Reeb's memory when he delivered a draft of the Voting Rights Act to Congress). Black people in Dallas County and the Black Belt mourned the death of Reeb, as they had earlier mourned the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson. But many activists were bitter that the media and national political leaders expressed great concern over the murder of Reeb, a northern white man in Selma, but had paid scant attention to that of Jackson, a local African American. SNCC organizer Kwame Ture argued that "the movement itself is playing into the hands of racism, because what you want as a nation is to be upset when anybody is killed [but] for it to be recognized, a white person must be killed. Well, what are you saying?" What Kame Ture meant is that a black life is as valuable as any other life of any other color.
Dr. King's credibility in the movement was shaken by the secret turnaround agreement. David Garrow notes that King publicly "waffled and dissembled" on how his final decision had been made. On some occasions King would inaccurately claim that "no pre-arranged agreement existed", but under oath before Judge Johnson, he acknowledged that there had been a "tacit agreement." Criticism of King by radicals in the movement became increasingly pronounced, with James Forman calling Turnaround Tuesday, "a classic example of trickery against the people." Following the death of James Reeb, a memorial service was held at the Brown's Chapel AME Church on March 15, 1965. Among those who addressed the packed congregation were Dr. King, labor leader Walter Reuther, and some clergymen. A picture of King, Reuther, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos and others in Selma for Reeb's memorial service appeared on the cover of Life magazine on March 26, 1965. After the memorial service, upon getting permission from the courts, the leaders and attendees marched from the Brown's Chapel AME Church to the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma.
More events in Montgomery, Alabama took place. After the turnaround in the second march, the Selma movement organizing were waiting for a judicial order to safely proceed. Tuskegee Institute students, led by Gwen Patton and Sammy Younge Jr. decided to open a Second Front by marching to the Alabama State Capitol and delivering a petition to Governor Wallace. They were joined quickly by James Forman and much of the SNCC staff from Selma. The SNCC members in many cases had a distrust of Dr. King after the turnaround Tuesday and wanted to have a separate course. By March 11, 1965, SNCC started many demonstrations in Montgomery and put out a national call for others to join them. James Bevel was SCLC's Selma leader followed them and discouraged their activities. This caused conflict between SCLC and Forman plus the SNCC. Bevel accused Forman of trying to divert people from the Selma campaign and of abandoning nonviolent discipline. Forman accused Bevel of driving a wedge between the student movement and the local black churches. The argument was resolved only when both were arrested.
On March 11, 1965, seven seven Selma solidarity activists sat-in at the East Wing of the White House until arrested. Dozens of other protesters also tried to occupy the White House that weekend but were stopped by guards; they blocked Pennsylvania Avenue instead. On March 12, President Johnson had an unusually belligerent meeting with a group of civil rights advocates including Bishop Paul Moore, Reverend Robert Spike, and SNCC representative H. Rap Brown. Johnson complained that the White House protests were disturbing his family. The activists were unsympathetic and demanded to know why he hadn't delivered the voting rights bill to Congress yet, or sent federal troops to Alabama to protect the protesters. In this same period, SNCC, CORE, and other groups continued to organize protests in more than eighty cities, actions that included 400 people blocking the entrances and exits of the Los Angeles Federal Building. President Johnson told the press that he refused to be "blackjacked" into action by unruly "pressure groups." The truth is pressure from activist group using protests and civil disobedience are legitimate tactics in getting solutions enacted. The next day he arranged a personal meeting with Governor Wallace, urging him to use the Alabama National Guard to protect marchers. He also began preparing the final draft of his voting rights bill. On March 11, Attorney General Katzenbach announced that the federal government was intending to prosecute local and state officials who were responsible for the attacks on the marchers on March 7. He would use an 1870 civil rights law as the basis for charges.
On March 15, 1965, the president convened a joint session of Congress, outlined his new voting rights bill, and demanded that they pass it. In a historic presentation carried nationally on live television, making use of the largest media network, Johnson praised the courage of African-American activists. He called Selma "a turning point in man's unending search for freedom" on a par with the Battle of Appomattox in the American Civil War. Johnson added that his entire Great Society program, not only the voting rights bill, was part of the Civil Rights Movement. He adopted language associated with Dr. King, declaring that "it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome." Afterward, King sent a telegram to Johnson congratulating him for his speech, calling it "the most moving eloquent unequivocal and passionate plea for human rights ever made by any president of this nation." Johnson's voting rights bill was formally introduced in Congress two days later.
On March 15-16, 1965, SNCC led several hundred demonstrations (that included Alabama students, Northern student, and local adults) in protests near the capitol complex. The Montgomery Country sheriff's posse met them on horseback and drove them back, whipping them. Against the objections of James Bevel, some protesters threw bricks and bottles at police. At a mass meeting on the night of the 16th, Forman "whipped the crowd into a frenzy" demanding that the President act to protect demonstrators, and warned, "If we can't sit at the table of democracy, we'll knock the f____ legs off." The New York Times featured the Montgomery confrontations on the front page the next day. Although King was concerned by Forman's rhetoric, he joined him in leading a march of 2000 people in Montgomery to the Montgomery County courthouse. According to historian Gary May, "City officials, also worried by the violent turn of events ... apologized for the assault on SNCC protesters and invited King and Forman to discuss how to handle future protests in the city." In the negotiations, Montgomery officials agreed to stop using the county posse against protesters, and to issue march permits to black people for the first time.
The third and successful March from Selma to Montgomery was the product of many things. On March 17, 1965 (a week after Rev. James Reeb's death on Wednesday), Judge Johnson ruled in favor of the protesters. He said that their First Amendment right to march in protest could not be abridged by the state of Alabama in the following words: "The law is clear that the right to petition one's government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups...These rights may...be exercised by marching, even along public highways." Judge Johnson had sympathized with the protesters for many days but had withheld his order until he received a total commitment of enforcement from the White House. President Johnson had avoided such a commitment in sensitivity to the power of the state's rights movement, and attempted to cajole Governor Wallace into protecting the marchers himself, or at least giving the president permission to send troops. Finally, seeing that Wallace had no intention of doing either, the president gave his commitment to Judge Johnson on the morning of March 17, and the judge issued his order the same day. To ensure that this march would not be as unsuccessful as the first two marches were, the president federalized the Alabama National Guard on March 20 to escort the marchers from Selma. The ground operation was supervised by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. He also sent Joseph A. Califano Jr., who at the time served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, to outline the progress of the march. In a series of letters, Califano reported on the march at regular intervals for the four days.
On Sunday, March 21, 1965, almost 8,000 people assembled at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to start the journey to Montgomery. Most of the participants were black Americans. Also, there were many white Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans who were involved in the Selma to Montgomery final march too. Spiritual leaders of multiple races, religions, and creeds marched abreast with Dr. King, including Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos, Rabbis Abraham Joshua Heschel and Maurice Davis, and at least one nun, all of whom were depicted in a photo that has become famous. The Dutch Catholic priest Henri Nouwen joined the march on March 24. In 1965, the road to Montgomery was four lanes wide going east from Selma, then narrowed to two lanes through Lowndes County, and widened to four lanes again at the Montgomery county border. Under the terms of Judge Johnson's order, the march was limited to no more than 300 participants for the two days they were on the two-lane portion of US 80. At the end of the first day, most of the marchers returned to Selma by bus and car, leaving 300 to camp overnight and take up the journey the next day. On March 22 and 23, 300 protesters marched through chilling rain across Lowndes County, camping at three sites in muddy fields. At the time of the march, the population of Lowndes County was 81% black and 19% white, but not a single black person was registered to vote. There were 2,240 whites registered to vote in Lowndes County, a figure that represented 118% of the adult white population (in many Southern counties of that era it was common practice to retain white voters on the rolls after they died or moved away). On March 23, hundreds of black marchers wore kippot, Jewish skullcaps, to emulate the marching rabbis, as Heschel was marching at the front of the crowd. The marchers called the kippot "freedom caps."
On the morning of March 24, 1965, the march went to Montgomery County, and the highway widened again to four lanes. All Day, as the marchers approached the city, additional marchers were ferried by bus and car to join the line. By evening, several thousand marchers had reached the final campsite at the City of St. Jude, a complex on the outskirts of Montgomery. That night on a makeshift stage, a "Stars for Freedom" rally was held, with singers Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sammy Davis Jr., Joan Baez, Nina Simone, and The Chad Mitchell Trio all performing. Thousands more people continued to join the march.
On Thursday, March 25, 25,000 people marched from St. Jude to the steps of the State Capitol Building where King delivered the speech "How Long, Not Long". He said: "...The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. ... I know you are asking today, How long will it take? I come to say to you this afternoon however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long."
After delivering the speech, Dr. King and the marchers approached the entrance to the Capitol with a petition for Governor Wallace. A line of state troopers blocked the door. One announced that the governor was not in. Undeterred, the marchers remained at the entrance until one of Wallace's secretaries appeared and took the petition.
Later that night, Viola Liuzzo, a white mother of five from Detroit who had come to Alabama to support voting rights for black human beings, was assassinated by Ku Klux Klan members while she was ferrying marchers back to Selma from Montgomery. Among the Klansmen in the car from which the shots were fired was FBI informant Gary Rowe. Afterward, the FBI's COINTELPRO operation spread false rumors that Liuzzo was a member of the Communist Party and had abandoned her children to have sexual relationships with African-American activists. The FBI lied once again, and J. Edgar Hoover was a coward to allow his agents to slander an innocent woman, who was Liuzzo. Murder is always wrong. The third Selma march received national and international coverage. The Selma march showed the courage of the people who desired voting rights and justice for all. Racists Like U.S. Representative William Louis Dickinson) accused the marchers of alcohol abuse, bribery, being part of a Communist conspiracy to destabilize America, and other sexual acts, but people of all ages were in the march. These allegations were false and denied by local and national journalists plus religious leaders (Congressmen William Fitts Ryand and Joseph Yale Resnick denied the allegations from Dickinson. Dickson opposed the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Civil Rights Act). The truth is that American citizens of every color and background have the right to vote and other human rights without discrimination and without oppression, period.
There was the unsung event of the Hammermill boycott. During 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. was promoting an economic boycott of Alabama products to put pressure on the State to integrate schools and employment. In an action under development for some time, the Hammermill Paper Company announced the opening of a major plant in Selma, Alabama; this came during the height of violence in early 1965. On February 4, 1965, the company announced plans for the construction of a $35 million plant, allegedly touting the "fine reports the company had received about the character of the community and its people." On March 26, 1965, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee called for a national boycott of Hammermill paper products until the company reversed what SNCC described as racist policies. The SCLC joined in support of the boycott. In cooperation with SCLC, student members of Oberlin College Action for Civil Rights joined with SCLC members to conduct picketing and a sit-in at Hammermill's Erie, Pennsylvania headquarters. White activist and preacher Robert W. Spike called Hammermill's decision as "an affront not only to 20 million American Negroes, but also to all citizens of goodwill in this country." He also criticized Hammermill executives directly, stating: "For the board chairman of one of America's largest paper manufacturers to sit side by side with Governor Wallace of Alabama and say that Selma is fine ... is either the height of naiveté or the depth of racism."
The company called a meeting of the corporate leadership, SCLC's C. T. Vivian, and Oberlin student leadership. Their discussions led to Hammermill executives signing an agreement to support integration in Alabama. The agreement also required Hammermill to commit to equal pay for black and white workers. During these negotiations, around 50 police officers arrived outside the Erie headquarters and arrested 65 activists, charging them with obstruction of an officer. Before the march to Montgomery concluded, SNCC staffers Kwame Ture and Cleveland Sellers committed themselves to registering voters in Lowndes County for the next year. Their efforts resulted in the creation of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an independent third party.
After long debate, the voting rights bill was passed during the summer and signed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson as the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. Many people in the Civil Rights Movement celebrated the bill being signed into law. The bill was signed by President Johnson in an August 6 ceremony attended by Amelia Boynton and many other civil rights leaders and activists. This act prohibited most of the unfair practices used to prevent black people from registering to vote and provided for federal registrars to go to Alabama and other states with a history of voting-related discrimination to ensure that the law was implemented by overseeing registration and elections.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights protected by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act sought to secure the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country. The National Archives and Records Administration stated: "The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most significant statutory change in the relationship between the federal and state governments in the area of voting since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War." The act contains numerous provisions that regulate elections. The act's "general provisions" provide nationwide protections for voting rights. Section 2 is a general provision that prohibits state and local governments from imposing any voting rule that "results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color" or membership in a language minority group. Other general provisions specifically outlaw literacy tests and similar devices that were historically used to disenfranchise racial minorities. The act also contains "special provisions" that apply only to certain jurisdictions. A core special provision is the Section 5 preclearance requirement, which prohibited certain jurisdictions from implementing any change affecting voting without first receiving confirmation from the U.S. attorney general or the U.S. District Court for D.C. that the change does not discriminate against protected minorities. Another special provision requires jurisdictions containing significant language minority populations to provide bilingual ballots and other election materials.
Section 5 and most other special provisions applied to jurisdictions encompassed by the "coverage formula" prescribed in Section 4(b). The coverage formula was originally designed to encompass jurisdictions that engaged in egregious voting discrimination in 1965, and Congress updated the formula in 1970 and 1975. In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula as unconstitutional, reasoning that it was obsolete. The court did not strike down Section 5, but without a coverage formula, Section 5 is unenforceable. The jurisdictions which had previously been covered by the coverage formula massively increased the rate of voter registration purges after the Shelby decision. In 2021, the Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee Supreme Court ruling reinterpreted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, substantially weakening it. The ruling interpreted the "totality of circumstances" language of Section 2 to mean that it does not generally prohibit voting rules that have a disparate impact on the groups that it sought to protect, including a rule blocked under Section 5 before the Court inactivated that section in Shelby County v. Holder. In particular, the ruling held that fears of election fraud could justify such rules without evidence that any such fraud had occurred in the past or that the new rule would make elections safer.
Research shows that the Act had successfully and massively increased voter turnout and voter registrations, in particular among black people. The Act has also been linked to concrete outcomes, such as greater public goods provision (such as public education) for areas with higher black population shares, more members of Congress who vote for civil rights-related legislation, and greater Black representation in local offices. The Supreme Court's Selby decision and the 2021 decision are wrong in my opinion. The Voting Rights Act should be strengthened, not weakened. Voting is a human right along with due process.
In the early years of the Act, overall progress was slow, with local registrars continuing to use their power to deny African Americans voting access. In most Alabama counties, for example, registration continued to be limited to two days per month. The United States Civil Rights Commission acknowledged that "The Attorney General moved slowly in exercising his authority to designate counties for examiners ... he acted only in counties where he had ample evidence to support the belief that there would be intentional and flagrant violation of the Act." Dr. King demanded that federal registrars be sent to every county covered by the Act, but Attorney General Katzenbach refused. By the summer of 1965, SCLC worked with SNCC and CORE to promote a large on the ground voter registration programs in the South. The Civil Rights Commission described this as a major contribution to expanding black voters in 1965, and the Justice Department acknowledged leaning on the work of "local organizations" in the movement to implement the Act. SCLC and SNCC were temporarily able to mend past differences through collaboration in the Summer Community Organization & Political Education project. Ultimately, their coalition foundered on SCLC's commitment to nonviolence and (at the time) the Democratic Party. Many activists worried that President Johnson still sought to appease Southern whites, and some historians support this view.
By March 1966, nearly 11,000 black people had registered to vote in Selma, where 12,000 whites were registered. More black people would register by November, when their goal was to replace County Sheriff Jim Clark; his opponent was Wilson Baker, for whom they had respect. In addition, five black people ran for office in Dallas County. Rev. P. H. Lewis, pastor of Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, ran for state representative on the Democratic ticket. David Ellwanger, a brother of Rev. Joseph Ellwanger of Birmingham, who led supporters in Selma in 1965, challenged incumbent state senator Walter C. Givhan (d. 1976), a fierce segregationist and a power in the state senate. First elected to the state senate in 1954, Givhan retained his seat for six terms, even after redistricting that preceded the 1966 election. In November 1966, Katzenbach told Johnson regarding Alabama, that "I am attempting to do the least I can do safely without upsetting the civil rights groups." Katzenbach did concentrate examiners and observers in Selma for the "high-visibility" election between incumbent County Sheriff Jim Clark and Wilson Baker, who had earned the grudging respect of many local residents and activists. With 11,000 black people added to the voting rolls in Selma by March 1966, they voted for Baker in 1966, turning Clark out of office. Clark later was prosecuted and convicted of drug smuggling and served a prison sentence. The US Civil Rights Commission said that the murders of activists, such as Jonathan Daniels in 1965, had been a major impediment to voter registration.
Overall, the Justice Department assigned registrars to six of Alabama's 24 Black Belt counties during the late 1960s, and to fewer than one-fifth of all the Southern counties covered by the Act. Expansion of enforcement grew gradually, and the jurisdiction of the Act was expanded through a series of amendments beginning in 1970. An important change was made in 1972, when Congress passed an amendment that discrimination could be determined by "effect" rather than by trying to prove "intent." Thus, if county or local practices resulted in a significant minority population being unable to elect candidates of their choice, the practices were considered to be discriminatory in effect. In 1960, there were a total of 53,336 black voters registered in the state of Alabama; three decades later, there were 537,285, a tenfold increase.
LeBron James returned to Cleveland from 2014 to 2018. On June 25, 2014, James opted out of his contract with the Heat, and on July 1, he officially became an unrestricted free agent. On July 11, James revealed via a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated that he intended to return to the Cavaliers. In contrast to The Decision, his announcement to return to Cleveland was well received. The next day, James officially signed with the team, who had compiled a league-worst 97–215 record in the four seasons following his departure. A month after James' signing, the Cavaliers acquired Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves, forming a new star trio along with Kyrie Irving. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers worked hard. By January of the 2014-2015 season, LeBron left the season for two weeks due to lfet knee and lower back strains. That was the longest stretch of missed games in his career for that time. James played 69 games and averaged 25.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game. During the second round of the playoffs, he he hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give Cleveland a 2–2 series tie with the Chicago Bulls. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers defeated the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the NBA Finals, making James the first player since the 1960s to play in five consecutive Finals. For most of the Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Irving and Love were sidelined due to injury, giving James more offensive responsibilities. Behind his leadership, the Cavaliers opened the series with a 2–1 lead before losing in six games. Despite the loss, he received serious consideration for the Finals MVP Award, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game.
The 2015-2016 season would be different for LeBron James. Cavaliers' coach David Blatt was fired midseason. Cleveland finished the year with 57 wins which was the best record in the East. LeBron had 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game on 52 percent shooting (during that season). In the playoffs, the Cavaliers advanced comfortably to the NBA Finals, losing only two games en route to a rematch with the Golden State Warriors, who were coming off a record-setting 73-win season. Golden State in the Final had a 3-1 lead. Many people thought it was over, but LeBron James responses by registering back-to-back 41-point games in Games 5 and 6, leading the Cavaliers to two consecutive wins to stave off elimination. In Game 7, he posted a triple-double and made a number of key plays, including a chasedown block on Andre Iguodala's go-ahead layup attempt, as Cleveland emerged victorious, winning the city's first professional sports title in 52 years and becoming the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3–1 series deficit in the Finals. James became just the third player to record a triple-double in an NBA Finals Game 7, and behind series averages of 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 2.6 steals per game, he also became the first player in league history to lead both teams in all five statistical categories for a playoff round, culminating in a unanimous Finals MVP selection. LeBron James said that after this NBA Championship, he felt that he was the greatest player in NBA history. LeBron James has many injuries during the 2016-17 season. It was a bizarre year.
Following a January defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans, James publicly criticized Cleveland's front office for constructing a team that he felt was too "top heavy", for which he received counter criticism. The Cavaliers finished the season as the East's second seed, with James averaging 26.4 points and career highs in rebounds (8.6), assists (8.7), and turnovers (4.1) per game. In Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs, he registered 41 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists against the Indiana Pacers, leading Cleveland to a comeback victory after trailing by 25 points at halftime, representing the largest halftime deficit overcome in NBA playoff history. In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, James scored 35 points and surpassed Jordan as the league's all-time postseason scoring leader. The Cavaliers won the game and the series, advancing to the NBA Finals for the third consecutive time against the Golden State Warriors, who had signed James' rival Kevin Durant during the off-season. Behind averages of 33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game, James .became the first player to average a triple-double in the Finals, but Cleveland was defeated in five games. By the 2017-18 season, Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics. Irving didn't want to play with James anymore.
Their turnaround began with a victory over the Wizards on November 3 where James scored 57 points, which represented the second-highest point total of his career and tied a franchise record. In January, the Cavaliers had a losing record, and James was criticized for his lackluster effort. The next month, James won his third All-Star Game MVP Award, after posting 29 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and several key plays to help Team LeBron win over Team Curry. Following another round of trades in February, Cleveland returned to form and James reached a number of historical milestones; on March 30, he set an NBA record with 867 straight games scoring in double digits. James eventually finished the season with averages of 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.2 assists, and 4.2 turnovers per game.
In the playoffs, James guided the Cavaliers to another Finals rematch with the Golden State Warriors. Along the way, he had some of the most memorable moments of his career, including a game-winning shot against the Pacers and another against the Raptors, after which a new nickname, "LeBronto" was popularized. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, James scored a playoff career-high 51 points, but Cleveland lost 124–114 in overtime. Following the loss, James injured his hand after punching a wall in the locker room, which hindered his effectiveness for the remainder of the series. The Cavaliers lost the series in four games, with James averaging 34 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game for the Finals.
By the 2018-2019 season, LeBron had injuries can went to the Los Angeles Lakers. James's agent Rich Paul wants more championship. LeBron James and the Lakers overcame many challenges to get into victory. The 2018-19 season had to change lineups. It turned around by November. In November, they began a turnaround, which included two of James's strongest performances of the season. On November 14, he registered 44 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in a victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. Four days later, James scored a season-high 51 points in a victory over the Heat. After blowing out the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, Los Angeles improved their record to 20–14, but James suffered a groin injury, the first major injury of his career. James missed a then career-high 17 consecutive games, and the Lakers fell out of playoff contention without him, marking the first time that James missed the playoffs since 2005. In March, the Lakers announced that James would begin a minutes restriction, and he was later officially ruled out for the rest of the season. James' final averages were 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. Despite his inconsistent campaign, James was named to the All-NBA Third Team, marking the first time in twelve years that he did not make the All-NBA First Team.
The 2019-2020 season was very special. Anthony Davis was on the team. Frank Vogel was the Lakers's new head coach. The LA Lakers had a great start. Behind James' leadership, the Lakers opened the 2019–20 season with a 17–2 record, matching the best start in franchise history. On January 25, James scored his 33,644th career point, passing Kobe Bryant for third on the all-time regular season scoring list. The following day, Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. James delivered an improvised eulogy in honor of Bryant at Staples Center, before a January 31 game against the Portland Trail Blazers. In early March, before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, James led the Lakers to a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in a matchup of conference leaders, followed by a streak-breaking victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.[233] Regular season play resumed in July and concluded in August within the confined NBA Bubble, where James ended the regular season as the league leader in assists for the first time in his career, averaging 10.2 assists per game. He earned a record 16th All-NBA Team selection as part of the First Team, extending his record First Team selections to 13.
The Lakers entered the playoffs as the top seed in the West and advanced to the NBA Finals convincingly, with only three total losses along the way. In Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets, James helped clinch the conference championship by scoring a game-high 38 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter. In the Finals, James and his teammates found themselves matched up with his former team, the Miami Heat, and quickly took control of the series with a 2–0 lead. In Game 5, James had his best statistical performance of the Finals with 40 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a memorable duel with Miami's Jimmy Butler, but Los Angeles was ultimately defeated in a three-point game. The Lakers eliminated the Heat in Game 6, which earned James, who averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game during the series, his fourth NBA championship and fourth Finals MVP award. At 35 years and 287 days old, James became the second-oldest player in league history to win the award, and the only player in NBA history to win the award with three different franchises. James and teammate Danny Green also became the third and fourth players in NBA history to win at least one championship with three different teams each.
The 2020-2021 season was when the LA Lakers was in a new era. On February 18, 2021, James became the third player in NBA history with 35,000 career points, joining Hall of Famers Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone; aged 36 years and 50 days, he was the youngest player to reach the milestone. On March 20, James sprained his ankle against the Atlanta Hawks, but was able to hit a three-point shot afterwards to keep his 10-points streak alive before exiting the game. By March, the Lakers were No. 2, two games behind the Utah Jazz, but they went 14–16 without Davis and 6–10 without James, falling to No. 5. James returned on April 30 after missing 20 games, the longest absence of his career. By the end of the season, he had his 17th consecutive season with 25 points per game, the most in NBA history. The Lakers lost in the first round. Later, in the 2021-2022 season, James worked with Carmelo ANthony and Russell Westbrook in the Lakers.
In a game against the Pistons on November 21, James was ejected in the third quarter after getting into a scuffle with Isaiah Stewart during the 121–116 victory. This was only the second time in his career that he was ejected from a game, and James was suspended for one game due to his actions. In his next 16 games, James averaged 30.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks on 54 percent shooting, also achieving his 100th triple-double, while becoming the third player in NBA history to surpass 36,000 career points: during this period, James played 35 percent of his minutes at center. From December 19 to February 26, 2022, playing 23 out of 27 games, he had a streak of 23 consecutive 25-point games.
In December, James became the second player in NBA history (after Jordan) to post 40 points and no turnovers at age 35 or older. By January 20, James became the fifth player in NBA history to record at least 30,000 career points and 10,000 career rebounds; he is the first player to record at least 30,000 career points, 10,000 career rebounds, and 9,000 career assists.In the same period, he surpassed Robertson for fourth all-time free throws made, and Alvin Robertson for 10th all-time in career steals. In February, James surpassed Abdul-Jabbar for the most points scored in both the regular season and playoffs; by March, he passed Karl Malone for second in the all-time minutes and regular season scoring lists.At the 2022 NBA All-Star Game held in Cleveland, James was celebrated among the other 74 players for the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. James led all players in fan votes with his 18th All-Star selection, tying Bryant and just one behind Abdul-Jabbar; his team achieved its fifth consecutive All-Star victory, defeating Team Durant 163–161, with James hitting the game-winning dagger shot in front of his hometown crowd.
In March, James recorded two 50-point games, which were also his Lakers' career-high, becoming the oldest player to have multiple 50-point games in a season, as well as the first Lakers player since Bryant in 2008 to have back-to-back 50-point home games; it was James' 15th 50-point game in his 19-year career, including the postseason. He also recorded his 10,000th career assist, becoming the only player in NBA history to record at least 10,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 10,000 assists. On March 27, James became just the second player in NBA history to score 37,000 points. By the 2022-2023 season, LeBron had the NBA all-time scoring record. Kareem Abdul Jabbar gave him a ball to celebrate his record being broken. On December 13, James scored 33 points in a 122–118 overtime loss to the Celtics, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain for the second-most 30-point games in NBA history. James recorded 516 30-point games in 1,386 career appearances.
On February 7, 2023, James passed Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar had previously set the record on April 5, 1984, eight months before James was born. After James broke the record, the NBA stopped the game with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter for an on-court ceremony. During the ceremony, he received the game ball from Abdul-Jabbar. James also gave a speech and then embraced Abdul-Jabbar, as well as his family. The Lakers excelled in the Playoffs and lost to the Denver Nuggets in 2023. Entering the 2023–24 season, James was the oldest player in the league, following the retirements of Udonis Haslem and Andre Iguodala.[353] In the season opener against the defending champion Nuggets, James put up 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 119–107 loss. On November 21, in a 131–99 blowout victory over the Utah Jazz, he became the first player in league history to reach 39,000 career points. Six days later, in a 138–94 blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, James surpassed Abdul-Jabbar's record of 66,300 minutes to become the player with the most minutes played in NBA games during the regular season and playoffs. On January 25, 2024, James was named an All-Star starter for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, marking his 20th NBA All-Star selection, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar for the most All-Star selections in NBA history. On April 2, James passed Oscar Schmidt to become the world's all-time scoring leader in basketball history. After the playoffs, the 2024-2025 seas saw LeBron play with his son Bronny. This was the first father-son duo in NBA history.
On November 13, he logged a triple-double of 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 14 assists, in a 128–123 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies. At age 39 years and 319 days, he broke his own record previously set in November 2019 for the oldest player to record a triple-double in three consecutive games. On January 3, 2025, James put up 30 points and eight assists in a 119–102 win over the Atlanta Hawks. He surpassed Jordan (562) for the most 30-point games in NBA history. James also passed Dirk Nowitzki (1,522) for the fourth-most games played in the regular season in NBA history. On February 6, James recorded season-highs 42 points and 17 rebounds along with eight assists in a 120–112 win over the Golden State Warriors. He joined Jordan (43 pts) as the only players to record 40+ points in a game at 40 years or older. At 40 years and 38 days, James became the oldest player to score 40+ points in a game. He is also the youngest, at 19 years, 88 days old. He became the first player older than 30 to record 30+ pts, 15+ reb, 5+ ast and 5+ triples in a game. On March 4, 2025, James surpassed 50,000 career points across the regular season and playoffs during a 136–115 win against the New Orleans Pelicans. On April 9, he played his 1,561st regular season game, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second on the league's games played list. This comes after he won the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. In the 2025 NBA Playoffs, The Lakers are in the mix.
By Timothy
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