On Friday night, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James reached another milestone, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to surpass 27,000 points. James becomes just the 10th player to ever reach that plateau, and he moves closer to No. 9 Elgin Hayes on the league's all-time scoring list.
Maybe most impressive about the feat is that James has never really put scoring as the emphasis of his game. He's always been a player more focused on passing, setting up teammates, and playing high-level defense. For him to be the youngest at this level is a testament to his overall greatness. Here's the list of those 10 players, along with their assists per game.
Now, some of that is hampered by those players' entire careers, as their later years drag down per game figures. But James would still be the leader in assists. James is going to wind up in the top-five list for points and assists, likely top 50 in rebounds, and top 20 in steals. He won't be high on the blocks list, but I think that's OK given that he has the greatest individual block in NBA history on his resume.
These are the kinds of things we're going to talk about when we judge his place in history. Yes, championships will be the ultimate factor in placing James somewhere in the top five (and most have placed him in the top two with Jordan at this point), but all of these little elements add to his overall narrative. He has done all of this by the time he was 31. That's where things get interesting. James has been in the league for 13 seasons. Can his body hold up to play and compete at a high level for another five? Does he want to?
Just how high can James reach?
