LeBron James ties Robert Parish for NBA's games-played record - ESPN

MIAMI — After playing Wednesday in Houston, flying cross-country through the night, not checking in to his Miami hotel until around 5 a.m. and receiving treatment on his arthritic left foot throughout the day, LeBron James suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Miami Heat on Thursday night and made history against his former team.

Thursday was the 1,611th game of James' career, tying Hall of Famer Robert Parish for the all-time games-played mark.

For Parish, the lengths the 41-year-old James goes to in order to continue to play in his 23rd season makes him at peace with someone else holding his record.

«If anyone is deserving of breaking the iron man record, I would say LeBron James is,» Parish told ESPN during a phone call Thursday. «Because he takes such good care of himself.… His approach to fitness and what he puts into his body reflects, or mirrors, how I felt about my fitness and what I ate, how I took care of myself. And so, it's a testament to not only my longevity, but LeBron's longevity.»

Parish, who set the record on April 9, 1996, by passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's mark of 1,560 games and added to it before retiring in 1997 with 1,611 games, figured someone would pass him at some point.

«Oh, no, no,» Parish said when asked whether he thought his record, which stood for nearly 30 years, was unbreakable. «I thought the record would be broken eventually.»

As James was approaching the mark last week, he was asked about the pending milestone.

«It's not something I set out to do,» he said. «The one thing that I've always had in my mind is that you can't be a leader and you can't practice what you preach if you're not available to your teammates. And I've always kind of just prided myself on trying to