 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LeBron James does it all.
The Los Angeles Lakers star moved within striking distance of the NBA’s all-time scoring title on Tuesday while passing two big leaders on the career assist chart.
James entered Tuesday with 117 points to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He’s that much closer after a 28-point effort in a 129-123 win over the New York Knicks in overtime. He now has 38,299 points and leads Abdul-Jabbar by 89.
James got his first triple-double of the season, adding 10 rebounds and 11 assists. It is also an important step. It is now the first NBA player to record a triple-double in its 20th season.
LeBron passes Jackson, Nash
James is also climbing the all-time assists rankings. He started Tuesday’s game with nine assists to pass Mark Jackson and Steve Nash to move into fourth all-time. He passed Jackson with his eighth flat of the night, then Nash with his ninth via a bouncing pass through traffic to set up a Thomas Bryant dunk in the fourth quarter.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Only John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,901) and Chris Paul (11,246) have more assists than James (10,328). James is the only non-leader to break into the top 20. While scoring is in the spotlight, James’ greatness as a passer and all-around player remains on full display.
James beat Knicks guard Jalen Brunsen, who had 37 points and 6 assists while making plays in the streak to keep the Knicks in the game. But James’ Lakers held on in overtime after giving up a 6-0 Knicks run in the final 33 minutes of regulation time to send the game into overtime.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The Lakers picked up the much-needed victory as they look to move into playoff position. With the win, they improved to 24-28, two games behind the 10th-placed Utah Jazz, who would claim the final Western Conference playoff berth if the regular season ends on Tuesday.
LeBron James scored a triple-double against the Knicks to close in on Kareem and pass Mark Jackson and Steve Nash on the career assists list. (Brad Penner/Reuters)
LeBron James breaks goalscoring record is only a matter of time
James isn’t chasing Kareem’s record on late offshoots of his remarkable career. Far from there. His 30.2-point average over 40 games would be the third-highest scoring rate in his 20 NBA seasons.
James averaged 20.9 points per game as a rookie and hasn’t dropped below that rate since. He’s on the verge of breaking Abdul-Jabbar’s record by more than 100 fewer games than his fellow Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar reached his total of 38,387 points in 1,560 games; the Lakers game against the Knicks was the 1,407th of James’ career.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The pace allows James to pass Abdul-Jabbar against the Thunder on Feb. 7 if he doesn’t miss a game. Here’s the upcoming slate of Lakers games as James pursues one of the last major milestones of his basketball career.
Thursday: at Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m. ET
Saturday: at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET
February 7: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 10:30 p.m. ET
February 9: vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)
February 11th : at Golden State Warriors, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
February 13: at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET
February 15: vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN)
