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LeBron James joins the NBA’s exclusive 30,000-point club amid Cavaliers drama
The Cleveland superstar is the youngest in history to earn the honor
9:24 PMFor a guy who hasn’t been viewed as a “scorer,” LeBron James sure has done a lot of it over the course of his 15 seasons. James, who sports the fifth highest scoring average in basketball history, entered into rarified air Tuesday night vs. the San Antonio Spurs by becoming just the seventh player to score 30,000 points in his career. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft needed just 25 points entering the weekend to hit the mark. At 33 years old, he is also the youngest to achieve the milestone, surpassing Kobe Bryant by a year. The 30K honor comes days after breaking a tie with Celtics legend Bob Cousy after being named a starter in his 14th consecutive All Star Game—the most all time.
Over 2,300 miles separate Quicken Loans Arena (where the Cavaliers play) and the Hollywood sign. The drama surrounding the team, though, is a script that has Tinseltown’s fingerprints all over it. And with the 2018 Oscar nominations announcements, you’re left to wonder how this Cavs squad wasn’t at least considered for “Best Original Screenplay.” There are the incessant reports of impending in-season roster moves that are, at this point, routine for the “win-now” mentality James injects into the franchises he carries. It remains to be seen how, if at all, the Cavs could drastically improve with a trade deadline move. A reported team meeting where Kevin Love was apparently once labeled the scapegoat is now the flavored Cleveland drama of the moment. And, of course, there’s basketball’s ultimate quagmire aka James’ “Decision 3.0” looming this summer.
Blame it on the post-Christmas, post-birthday and/or post-New Year’s hangovers. Whatever the case, as its felt like in recent years, LeBron and the month of January haven’t seen eye-to-eye. Cleveland is 3-9 since Christmas, including the most embarrassing defeat of the season—a 148-124 dump-trucking against the Oklahoma City Thunder on national television. It’s the dog days of the NBA season for James and the Cavs. But ahead of tonight’s game against the Spurs, James took a momentary exit from the drama that has made his career a real life example of The Truman Show. Taking to Instagram, the four-time MVP took time to realize his impending accomplishment by writing himself a congratulations letter.
Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, the aforementioned Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki stand in front of James in his ascent on the NBA’s most hallowed individual ladder (rings are a team honor). Per ESPN Stats and Info, with a career average of 27.1, James would need to play another 314 games at the same pace to surpass Jabbar. Yet, even for James—a pillar of consistency, durability and dominance—expecting that output late into his 30s seems unreasonable. His best friend, Dwyane Wade (who is preparing to pass Larry Bird for 32nd all time in scoring), believe James isn’t anywhere climbing the record books.
“I think he can. I think he can,” Wade said. “I’ve always said I think he will end (No.) 1 or 2.
How many points James ends up with is a question best left for time to answer. Passing Kareem is a possibility, though still faint given the unknown of how long ‘Bron actually wants to play and health. What isn’t, though, is James ending his career as likely the only man in history to finish top 10 in points, assists and steals—and top three in points is a very real and expected threshold. With Nowitzki hinting he’ll return for his 20th season in 2018-19, and despite him not being the scoring machine he once was, it’s difficult to predict when (not if) James will pass him. But at his current pace, ‘Bron will knock not only Wilt Chamberlain down one notch on the all-time list next season, but his childhood idol and the man he openly chases for the “GOAT” title in the original No. 23, too. If you think this moment received a lot of media hoopla, just wait until LeBron inevitably passes Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. That should be fun.