Plus, Kevin Durant's pursuit of Michael Jordan.
Of all the milestones LeBron James has reached, this season might feature his most impressive ones.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar already holds the NBA's career records for points scored and minutes played, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's standards in each of the past two seasons, respectively. James now trails Robert Parish's record for games played by 49 appearances. (He played 70 games last season.)
That's right: By February, James could have played more in the NBA than anyone ever. Imagine that. Even with all that hype coming into the league as "The Chosen One" in 2003, if you had said he would retire as the NBA's all-time leader in games, minutes and points, you would have thought he met all expectations.
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I will leave it to you to consider whether we set our standards too high for our heroes.
Regardless, what's even more remarkable about the things James can accomplish this season: There is a real chance he could end this campaign with more rebounds than Dennis Rodman, more assists than Jason Kidd, more steals than Gary Payton, more 3-pointers than Reggie Miller and more triple-doubles than Magic Johnson. And again: He already has more points than anyone ever. This is mind-blowing stuff.
NBA career rebounds leaderboard
22. Charles Oakley (12,205)
23. Dennis Rodman (11,954)
24. Kevin Willis (11, 901)
25. LeBron James (11,731)
26. Patrick Ewing (11,607)
(James grabbed 546 rebounds last season. He trails Rodman by 223.)
NBA career assists leaderboard
1. John Stockton (15,806)
2. Chris Paul (12,499)
3. Jason Kidd (12,091)
4. LeBron James (11,584)
5. Steve Nash (10,335)
(James doled out 575 assists last season. He trails Kidd by 507.)
NBA career steals leaderboard
3. Jason Kidd (2,684)
4. Michael Jordan (2,514)
5. Gary Payton (2,445)
6. LeBron James (2,345)
7. Maurice Cheeks (2,310)
(James swiped 70 steals last season. He trails Payton by 100.)
NBA career 3-pointers leaderboard
4. Damian Lillard (2,804)
5. Klay Thompson (2,697)
6. Reggie Miller (2,560)
7. LeBron James (2,559)
8. Kyle Korver (2,450)
(James made 149 3-pointers last season. He trails Miller by one.)
NBA career triple-doubles leaderboard
2. Oscar Robertson (181)
3. Nikola Jokić (164)
4. Magic Johnson (138)
5. LeBron James (122)
6. Jason Kidd (107)
(James logged 10 triple-doubles last season. He trails Johnson by 16.)
Kevin Durant's pursuit of Michael Jordan
Kevin Durant is, without a doubt, one of the greatest scoring weapons in NBA history. He has averaged 27.2 points per game on 50/39/88 shooting splits for a 17-year career, and he is still approaching those numbers — if not surpassing them — on an annual basis, despite a debilitating Achilles injury at age 30.
Believe it or not, that has him apace to surpass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list. Yes, that Michael Jordan, the one considered the greatest scorer ever, even if others have scored more points.
NBA career points leaderboard
5. Michael Jordan (32,292)
6. Dirk Nowitzki (31,560)
7. Wilt Chamberlain (31,419)
8. Kevin Durant (30,571)
9. Shaquille O'Neal (28,596)
(Durant scored 1,647 points last season. He trails Jordan by 1,721.)
For the record: Jordan scored his 32,292 points in 1,072 games. Durant has already played 1,123 games.
James Harden: Top 10 in scoring and assists?
Meanwhile, James Harden could also move into the top 10 on both the all-time scoring and assist lists.
NBA career points leaderboard
8. Kevin Durant (30,571)
9. Shaquille O'Neal (28,596)
10. Carmelo Anthony (28,289)
11. James Harden (27,687)
12. Moses Malone (27, 409)
(Harden scored 1,802 points last season. He trails O'Neal by 909.)
NBA career assists leaderboard
10. Isiah Thomas (9,061)
11. Gary Payton (8,966)
12. Andre Miller (8,524)
13. James Harden (8,316)
14. Rod Strickland (7,987)
(Harden doled out 687 assists last season. He trails Thomas by 745.)
Of course, Harden (4,260 turnovers) also trails Karl Malone (4,524) for third on a more troublesome list.
Russell Westbrook's rare company
If only he can find a team, Russell Westbrook could join James, Durant and Harden in the top 15 on the all-time scoring list. He is ranked 20th, but another year like last season could propel him as high as 14th.
14. Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946)
15. Oscar Robertson (26,710)
16. Dominique Wilkins (26,668)
17. Tim Duncan (26,496)
18. Paul Pierce (26,397)
19. John Havlicek (26,395)
20. Russell Westbrook (26,205)
21. Kevin Garnett (26,071)
(Westbrook scored 994 points last season. He trails Olajuwon by 741.)
Westbrook is also 75 assists from 10,000 and 45 steals from 2,000 for his career.
Other members of the 10,000-assist, 2,000-steal club: LeBron James, Chris Paul, John Stockton and Jason Kidd. James is the only other one among them who has also scored 25,000 points in his career.
Westbrook could join James in another exclusive club, as he is 171 turnovers away from becoming the second player ever to commit 5,000 in a career. Westbrook committed 242 turnovers for the Nuggets.
Other milestones ...
Stephen Curry (25,386 career points) could climb as high as 13th (27,313) on the all-time list.
Nikola Jokić needs 18 triple-doubles to surpass Oscar Robertson for second on the all-time list.
Klay Thompson needs 277 3-pointers to surpass Ray Allen for third on the all-time list.
Paul George needs 102 3-pointers to surpass Kyle Korver for eighth on the all-time list.
Durant needs 100 3-pointers to surpass Vince Carter for 10th on the all-time list.
Chris Paul needs 57 games played to surpass Jason Terry for 10th on the all-time list.
Rudy Gobert needs 300 rebounds to become the 45th player ever to reach 10,000 for his career.
Anthony Davis needs 185 blocks to become the 21st player ever to reach 2,000 for his career.
Davis and George need 1,022 points and 1,303 points, respectively, to reach 20,000 for their careers.
Category: General Sports
