LeBron James will not give much thought to becoming the youngest player to reach 30,000 NBA points until he retires, and feels his latest achievement is "merely a by-product" of hard work.

The 33-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers forward broke Kobe Bryant's record during Tuesday's defeat to the San Antonio Spurs.

James, more than a year younger than Bryant when he reached the landmark, says he has no time to reflect on such a magnificent feat.

"It is just a special moment. It's something I never set out to do. I'm not even like a score first guy when it comes to playing basketball," said the Cavaliers superstar.

"I love giving my team-mates the ball, seeing my team-mates be excited about scoring and me getting assists and things of that nature, but for me to sit here and be the youngest player ever to reach 30,000, I put a lot of work into my game and it's been a by-product of it.

"They're telling me to take some time [to acknowledge the milestone], I don't know how to do it. I've never been able to do it, when I got 25,000 points, 20,000 points or MVPs, rookie of the year, won a championship....

"I haven't had time to really just sit and appreciate the journey I've been on and I don't want to because that will allow me to stay on the path that I've been on. I have a lot more time when I'm done, a lot more than I did when I played to look back on what I was able to accomplish."

James' team-mate Dwyane Wade savoured being on court for such a big moment.

"I'm just incredibly happy that I can be here to witness something so historic in the game of basketball," he said.

"That I can be on the court in that moment for him. In the midst of losing ball games and in the midst of everything that is going on right now in the NBA season, it doesn't take away from the career that he is having.

"What makes it even more impressive is not only that he got to 30k at 33, but he has 7,000 rebounds, 7,000 assists and so forth. It was a great moment, I was glad I could be there when he turned around.

"I just told him I'm proud of him and congratulations. That's the biggest thing. You see a person's work ethic, you know a person's heart, you know a person cares about [the] team, he cares about winning and doesn't really know how to take it in.

"Even though he has had a lot of individual success and awards, he really doesn't feel comfortable with some of it, in a sense. But you appreciate greatness, and he is one of my best friends but I appreciate greatness. So I just told him how great he is."