LeBron James | King, legend, GOAT contender Premium

LeBron James recently became the leading points-scorer in NBA history, but his footprint as an all-round player is not limited to that. With every passing season, his case for being considered the greatest-ever only grows stronger

LeBron James posted up at the top of the key, took one dribble and hit a slick fadeaway jumper to create history. With his signature move, James overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) to become the all-time leading points-scorer in NBA history.

The game, where James’ Los Angeles Lakers faced Oklahoma City Thunder, was stopped to celebrate the incredible milestone. An emotional James was joined on court by his family, as well as Abdul-Jabbar.

In the post-match media conference, James explained that the weight of his achievement had not sunk in. He stated that it was a “surreal” feeling to be mentioned alongside Abdul-Jabbar and other greats.

“I’m a historian of the game. Guys like Kareem, MJ [Michael Jordan], Magic [Johnson], [Larry] Bird, Oscar Robertson, Elgin [Baylor] — I can be here all night talking about these legends. For me, it’s an honour to be named with the greats, and to be in the conversation with the greats. It’s a surreal feeling. We used to watch these guys when we were young, and now we are actually up here with them,” James said.

Unlike Abdul-Jabbar, James is not an all-out scoring machine. He is a consummate team man, who derives great satisfaction from getting everyone on the floor involved on offence. Only a couple of weeks ago, James overtook Steve Nash to climb to fourth on the all-time assists leaderboard. 

The top-three — John Stockton, Jason Kidd and Chris Paul — were pure point guards, whose primary job was to pass the ball. It speaks volumes about James’ unselfish nature that a 6’9” power forward, armed with every offensive trick in the book, has joined this elite list. James is notably the only man in history with a top-five spot on both the assists and scoring charts.

His astounding longevity is the key to his record-breaking spree. James, 38, is in his 20th NBA season and is not slowing down. He averages a shade over 30 points per game this season and is striving to drag his Lakers to yet another playoff appearance.