STORY: The man they call "The King" has been the pride of Akron since well before he became a professional basketball star, nearly two decades ago.

And now with James on the verge of setting a new scoring record, Akron residents are beaming.

James is just 36 points short of topping Kareem Abdul Jabbar's record of 38,387 all-time scoring points record.

His team, the Los Angeles Lakers, will play on Tuesday evening against the Oklahoma City Thunder.