Like many of the rest of us, LeBron James grew up idolizing Michael Jordan.Now, unlike the rest of us, LeBron has the ability to compare his own basketball career to the Greatest Of All-Time.James passed Jordan on the all-time career playoff points list on Thursday night as his team clinched the Eastern Conference championship in a 135-102 Game 5 victory against the Boston Celtics.Then, he had some words of tribute to the former Chicago Bulls superstar, who is now the owner of the Charlotte Hornets.James made a 3-pointer late in the third quarter of the rout against Boston that clinched the record.After the game, where LeBron scored a game-high 35 points, he stood alone in career playoff points scored with 5,995 points. Jordan is second on the list with 5,987 points. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is third on the list with 5,762 and Kobe Bryant is fourth at 5,640.(It's worth noting that LeBron has scored those points in 211 career playoff games, while Jordan played in 179.)After the game, LeBron was asked about passing Michael on the list. His response was all class:

"I wear the number (23) because of Mike. I think I fell in love with the game because of Mike, just seeing what he was able to accomplish," James said. "But I felt like Mike was so..."

LeBron trailed off but put his hand up as if to show the pedestal that he put Jordan on when he was growing up. He continued:

"When you're growing up and you're seeing Michael Jordan, it's almost like a god, so I did never believe I could beat Mike. So I started to focus myself on other players and other people around my neighborhood because I never thought that you could get to a point where Mike was. So I think that helped shape my game."

However, James also went on to talk downplay the record in a way, explaining how his game has differed from others in the past, including MJ.

"I think the biggest thing for me, sitting here today, after breaking the all-time scoring record in playoff history is that I did it just being me. I don't have to score the ball to make an impact on the basketball game. And that was my mindset, when I started playing the game I was like, 'If I'm not scoring the ball, how can I still make an impact on the game?' It's carried me all the way to this point now, and it's going to carry me for the rest of my career because scoring is not number one on my agenda."