The 40-year-old, the league’s all-time leading scorer, scored 30 points to achieve the feat for the 563rd time and pass the mark set by Jordan in 2003.

He also moved into fourth in the most number of games played in the NBA on 1,523, one more than Dirk Nowitzki.

He now trails only Robert Parish (1,611), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,560) and Vince Carter (1,541) for most career games.

Alongside James, Anthony Davis returned from a one-game absence with an ankle problem to claim 18 points and 19 rebounds while Austin Reaves had 20 points as the Lakers won their seventh game out of their last nine.

Trae Young had 33 points and nine assists and Jalen Johnson added 19 points for the Hawks, who led early before the Lakers took a 14-13 lead with seven minutes and 31 seconds left in the first quarter which they never lost.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stretched their winning run to a team record-equalling 14 games with a 117-107 victory over the New York Knicks.

The Thunder trailed 88-80 going into the final quarter but Aaron Wiggins went on to score 15 of his 19 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who top-scored on 33 and Jalen Williams, who added 20, also guided them to a victory which ended the nine-game winning run of the Knicks.

Victor Wembanyama finished with 35 points, 18 rebounds and four assists and had a crucial steal in the final seconds as the San Antonio Spurs edged past the Denver Nuggets 113-110.

Details of the deal have not been disclosed, but ESPN report the Hornets are worth an estimated $3bn (£2bn).

When the sale concludes, it will bring an end to Jordan’s 13-year run as the Hornets’ majority owner.

Jordan, who is currently the only black majority team owner in the NBA, will keep a minority stake after the sale to a group of investors.

The group is led by financiers Gabe Plotkin, a current minority owner, and Rick Schnall, a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks.

It has been announced, however, that Mr Schnall will sell his ownership in the Hawks.

The investor group also includes North Carolina rapper Jermaine Cole, known as J. Cole, and country music singer Eric Church.

Jordan is a six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP and is widely celebrated as the greatest player in NBA history.

Having paid $275m for a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2010, he is also the league’s only black majority owner.

Previously, he was a minority owner with the Washington Wizards basketball team.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has spoken of the need for more diversity in the NBA’s highest ranks, where owners are overwhelmingly white men.

In a press conference earlier in June, Mr Silver hinted at the possibility of Jordan joining the NBA’s governing board, according to CBS, the BBC’s US media partner.

Of the four major US sports leagues, there are few owners who are not white: Kim Pegula, an Asian woman and a principle owner of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills; Shad Khan, from Pakistan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Arte Moreno, a Mexican American, owns the MLB Los Angeles Angels; and Sheila Johnson, an African American woman who is part-owner of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and NBA’s Washington Wizards.

The signed sneakers – which Sotheby’s had estimated would fetch $2m to $4m – are among the most expensive Jordan items auctioned.

A jersey he wore at the 1998 NBA Finals sold in 2022 for $10.1m.

The latest sale seals Jordan’s position as the most valuable athlete at auctions for sportswear memorabilia.

“Today’s record-breaking result further proves that the demand for Michael Jordan sports memorabilia continues to outperform and transcend all expectations,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s Head of Streetwear and Modern Collectables.

The previous record for Jordan shoes was $1.47m for a pair of his Nike Air Ships auctioned in 2021.

The Air Jordan XIIIs sold on Tuesday were worn by the basketball star during his last championship season with the Chicago Bulls in 1997-98.

Jordan had the size-13 shoes on when he scored 37 points in Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals series, carrying the Bulls to a 93-88 victory over the Utah Jazz.

The Bulls went on to win the championship, a story told in the 2020 documentary series “Last Dance” about the megastar’s last season with the team.

It was Jordan’s sixth NBA championship and the fifth time he’d be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

Right after the Game 2 victory, Jordan gave the shoes to a ball boy in the locker room as thanks for finding a lost jacket, Sotheby’s auction house says.

The “Bred” Air Jordans – short for “black and red” – are the only complete pair of sneakers worn by Jordan in an NBA Finals game to be authenticated, Sotheby’s said.

Jordan wore the first Air Jordan shoe in 1984 during his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls. The Air Jordan I became available to the general public the following year. To date, more than 30 different models of the Air Jordan have been made.

Jordan won a total of six NBA Finals championships, two Olympic Gold Medals and numerous other accolades.

He is widely considered one of the greatest athletes of all time.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES

Image caption: The Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan takes a shot during Game 4 of the 1998 NBA Finals in Salt Lake City, Utah

This is the most a piece of sporting memorabilia has fetched in history.

Auction house Sotheby’s says the item drew “palpable excitement” from sports fans and collectors.

It was reminiscent of a sporting season – chronicled in Netflix documentary The Last Dance – which saw Jordan winning his sixth and final NBA title.

On Thursday, Sotheby’s said Jordan’s Chicago Bulls jersey attracted a total of 20 bids.

Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectables, Brahm Wachter, said bidders were “eager to own a rarefied piece of history”.

“Today’s record-breaking result… solidifies Michael Jordan as the undisputed G.O.A.T, proving his name and incomparable legacy is just as relevant as it was nearly 25 years ago,” Wachter said. G.O.A.T is an acronym for “greatest of all time”.

The jersey outstripped a previous record of $9.28m, paid for a shirt worn by football star Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup.

It was auctioned with a June 1998 Sports Illustrated magazine, which features Jordan on the cover.

Jordan is seen by many as the best player in the history of basketball. He spent most of his career with the Chicago Bulls, became a global icon and helped raise the NBA’s profile around the world.

Although the Chicago Bulls lost the opening game of the NBA Finals against Utah Jazz, it won the next three games. Then Utah Jazz took the next game by two points.

In the sixth game, Jordan put the Bulls up 87-86 with just 5.2 seconds left on the clock, and secured his final NBA title.

The comeback was cheered by basketball fans around the world.

Jordan had abruptly retired from basketball in October 1993, following the murder of his father in North Carolina. The star had won seven scoring titles and led the Chicago Bulls to three straight championships.

“I have always stressed… that when I lose the sense of motivation and the sense to prove something as a basketball player, it’s time to leave,” Jordan said.

Jordan, who is now aged 59, hung up his boots for the final time in 2003.

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The clinics, slated to open in 2022, will serve the uninsured or underinsured residents of New Hanover County, according to a news release from Novant Health, a regional health care system.

“Everyone should have access to quality healthcare, no matter where they live, or whether or not they have insurance,” he said in a statement.

“Wilmington holds a special place in my heart and it’s truly gratifying to be able to give back to the community that supported me throughout my life.”

This is not the first time Jordan, who owns the Charlotte Hornets, has stepped up to help his community. In 2017, Jordan committed $7 million to Novant Health to open two clinics in Charlotte.

The donation came with a pledge to provide resources to communities with little or no health care. The first Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic opened in October 2019.

Last year, it served as a Covid-19 screening and testing site, providing more than 13,000 tests. Last October, the six-time NBA champion again partnered with Novant Health to open a second medical clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina.

To date, Novant Health said the two Charlotte clinics have brought primary care, behavioural health and social support services to the area’s most vulnerable communities, seeing more than 4,500 patients and administering almost 1,000 Covid-19 vaccines.

Novant Health said Jordan’s latest donation will help “bring this same integrated care model to more rural and rural-adjacent communities in his hometown.”

“This pandemic has exacerbated health equity gaps across our state, making our efforts to close them even more emergent. We look forward to standing these clinics up as quickly as possible to ensure all members of the community have access to necessary medical care,” Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health, said in a statement.

“We are so appreciative of Michael’s unwavering commitment to help us bring affordable care to our communities that need it most. It’s not only an investment in us as a partner, but it’s an investment in each and every person that our clinics can reach.”

Novant Health said it has now received a total of $17 million from Jordan, dedicated to developing clinics.

So much so, he once turned down a jaw-dropping amount of money for a two-hour appearance at an event, his former agent said this week.

David Falk appeared on WFAN’s “Boomer and Gio,” where he discussed how picky his famous client was when it came to projects.

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“I brought him a deal three years ago for $100 million. All he had to do was, other than giving his name and likeness, make a one two-hour appearance to announce the deal and he turned it down,” Falk said Wednesday, without providing any additional details on the deal.”

“God bless him. He’s been so successful, it gives him an opportunity to do whatever the hell he wants or not to do things he doesn’t want. I really admire that. He’s very, very selective in the things he wants to be involved in.”

Jordan made headlines last month after his documentary “The Last Dance” was released. The ESPN series premiered on April 19 and will air on Sunday nights over five weeks through May 17.

The 1990s Chicago Bulls, led by Jordan, remains one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. The ESPN series features never-before-seen footage from the 1997-98 season, along with interviews from a star-studded cast.

Shaquille O’Neal tweeted about the loss of “my brother,” shortly after the news broke — sentiments Michael Jordan echoed in a statement released Sunday afternoon.

Michael Jordan responds

“Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling,” Jordan wrote as he described Bryant as “like a little brother to me.”

The death of Kobe Bryant at age 41 has stunned the basketball world and beyond after the NBA icon died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning in Calabasas, California, near Los Angeles.

Bryant, a 6-6 shooting guard, drew immediate comparisons to Jordan when he joined the NBA in 1996.

A fiery competitor who won five NBA championships, those comparisons rang true as Bryant went on to become one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Though Bryant fell one ring short of his quest to match Jordan in championships, he surpassed him on the career scoring list to become the league’s third-leading scorer of all time until LeBron James eclipsed him on Saturday.

Bryant never quite reached Jordan’s status in the conversation as the best to ever play the game but falling a touch short of Jordan’s legacy on the basketball court added up to a remarkable, iconic career for Bryant.