Luke Kennard goes from LeBron James record breaker, to Lakers’ X-Factor in debut

LOS ANGELES — There are very few hoopers that can claim to have outdone LeBron James.

Luke Kennard is one of those few.

Then playing for Franklin High (Cincinnati) on the Ohio high school basketball circuit, the future Duke guard scorched Brookville High on Feb. 6, 2015 for 44 points; a late-game 3-pointer securing him fourth place on the all-time scoring list in the state. Eleven years and two days ago, that triple – a shot Kennard has become known for across his career, making 44.2% of his beyond-the-arc strokes since entering the league in 2017 – pushed the Lakers’ newly-acquired sharpshooter past James on the Ohio high school basketball scoring list.

“Gave it the little LeBron,” Kennard told ESPN after passing the then-Cavaliers star in the record books almost a decade ago. Kennard finished his high school career second in the all-time scoring rankings, and now ranks fourth overall.

“He’s good,” James then said of Kennard, who played for his AAU team as a teenager. “He’s one of my kids. That’s great. I’m happy for him.”

For Kennard, who debuted with the Lakers on Saturday night during a 105-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors, recording 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting (2 for 4 from behind the arc) across 26 minutes off the bench, joining James on the floor for the first time was a “full-circle moment,” the ninth-year veteran guard/forward said postgame.

Kennard grew up idolizing James before charting his own path through the NBA, suiting up for James on the AAU rounds, and breaking the former St. Vincent-St. Mary record. But wearing the same stripes, the purple and gold, marked a new memory for the 29-year-old.

“It’s definitely something special when you’re putting on the same jersey you’re going out there and competing with them,” said Kennard, who has converted a league-high 49.7% 3-points attempts during the 2025-2026 season. “Obviously I’ve played against (James) for the last nine years. And it’s obviously special watching him as a player, but it’s a lot different when you’re playing with him and the things he can do.”

James certainly recognizes what Kennard can add to the Lakers (32-19) heading into the final stretch of the season – where the team ranks as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with 31 games remaining in the regular season before playing the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder (40-13) at home on Monday night – saying that the 6-foot-5 wing, “shoots the ball so elite.”

“First of all, I haven’t even gotten to the point where I even confronted him about breaking my scoring record in Ohio, when he passed me,” James said. “But he did play for my AAU team, so we kinda even. But I mean listen – he’s a really good basketball player.”

Kennard, who was the Lakers’ return from the Atlanta Hawks in the trade deadline deal that sent guard Gabe Vincent the other way, helped spark a fourth-quarter rally, hoisting the Lakers above the Warriors with an after timeout play-turned corner 3-pointer than turned a one-point lead into a 12-point lead to place the game out of grasp for injury-riddled Golden State.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka added that Kennard’s introduction to the team could help create a small-sized postseason shooting lineup including the trio of Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura and James, along with Kennard and Hachimura to round out the five.

“When you get to add the best shooter in the game to your group at the deadline,” Pelinka said Saturday, “it’s a great opportunity. So, we seized it.”

Of the five, everyone but Doncic – who leads the league with 32.8 points per game – averages above 50% shooting from the field. Kennard and Hachimura (44.9% from beyond the arc) convert a high percentage of long-range looks, but the Japanese forward is more selective with his shots, attempting just 9.2 field goal attempts per game.

Kennard is well aware of his role on the team – Pelinka’s touted his scoring ability, and Coach JJ Redick told the media Thursday that he’s actively encouraging his new shooter to well, shoot.

Kennard, who like Redick is a Duke alumnus, studied the film packages of offensive and defensive concepts that the team sent him in preparation for his team debut.

“He probably watched it,” Redick said. “Not all players would, but he probably did.”

Game one? So far, so good, according to the Lakers’ coach. But when it comes to outdoing, outscoring James 11 years ago, one of Kennard’s new teammates couldn’t believe the story when he reached his ears.

“That’s crazy,” Reaves said when told of Kennard’s high-school exploits. “I didn’t know that. That’s a lot of buckets.

“(Kennard) can shoot it. That’s impressive.”