LeBron James was proud to have broken the NBA record for the most 30-point games during the Los Angeles Lakers' 119-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

James sealed the record with 5:58 to play, reaching at least 30 points for the 563rd time in a regular-season game to beat the record established by Michael Jordan in 2003. Jordan set the record in 1,072 games over 15 seasons, while James took 1,523 games over 22 seasons.

"It's very humbling," said James after the Lakers' victory, which was their eighth in 11. "Anytime I'm mentioned with any of the greats, and arguably the greatest ever to play the game, super cool.

"It's someone I idolised in my childhood, and I wear 23 because of him. So to know that I can sit here and be in the room or in the conversation or whatever it is, when you mention MJ, it's just super-duper dope for me, being a kid from where I'm from."

Team-mate Anthony Davis returned from an ankle injury and put up 18 points, 19 rebounds, three steals and three blocks in the same game. The 31-year-old was supportive of James, although shot a joking jibe at him.

"It took him seven more seasons," said Davis with a smile. "But that's obviously a hell of an accomplishment. I think he's probably No. 1 f****ing everything at this point."

James' shot to reach 30 points on Friday – a turnaround, fadeaway jumper along the left wing – was a trademark move of Jordan's and, according to James, that was no coincidence.

"He was more of a left-shoulder fadeaway guy," he said.

"I kind of go the opposite way. But it's two masters of their craft, putting in work and work and work to the point where it kind of becomes unguardable. It's just work. It's just work and dedication.

"I watched MJ a lot and saw how on-balance he was, even though he was fading away from the basket. So I just wanted to try to match that as my career has grown in years."