As LeBron James crosses 20,000 points, is he the greatest ever?

Numbers can be construed in many ways. They can be twisted around to mean just about anything. Some may say although LeBron is the youngest to reach 20,000, he took more games to reach that mark. They a lot of things.

But there are certain numbers which leave absolutely no doubt about the conclusion you can draw from them. Based on what you’re about to read below, you may form a conclusion that LeBron James can retire as the greatest player to play the game.

“It’s awesome. I mean, I think for a guy who never really gets attention for being a scorer, when they mention the best scorers in the game, they never really say him as the best scorer. He has so many other attributes that it’s hard to mention everything”- Dwyane Wade, on LeBron reaching 20,000 points mark.

LeBron James has just joined a couple of elite clubs. He has been the youngest player in the league to reach a lot of milestones. Youngest to be drafted No.1 overall, youngest to win Rookie of the Year, youngest to score 1,000 and 10,000 points. And now he’s become the youngest to score 20,000 points vs the Warriors today.

The previous youngest to score 20,000 points was Kobe Bryant, who got there when he was 29 years, 122 days old. James was 28 years, 17 days on Wednesday. Much ado has been made about him just becoming the youngest player to join the 20,000 point club in the NBA.

He’s the 7th fastest to reach that mark, in terms of games played. Players who were faster to 20,000 in terms of games than James were Wilt Chamberlain(499), Michael Jordan (620), Oscar Robertson (671), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (684),Elgin Baylor (711) and Allen Iverson (713). James has reached it one game faster than Shaq.

Scoring 20,000 points is a well deserved accomplishment but it doesn’t reflect the comprehensiveness of LeBron’s game. LeBron James, to me, is the most complete basketball player in the NBA. Often a player’s competency is judged by his scoring. Although LeBron doesn’t disappoint, he’s 5th in the league in scoring with 26 ppg, and his name isn’t one that comes to mind when you think of top scorers. Both Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are seen as better scorers. Ask yourself these questions for a moment:

- Can LeBron get to the line easier than Kobe and Durant?
- Is LeBron faster, stronger and quicker than Kobe and Durant?
- Is there a player in the league who can contain LeBron when he posts up?

If LeBron came out to play with just one goal, to score points, he could lead the league in scoring every year. But in order to be a truly effective player, LeBron makes the right play most of the time. He gets his teammates involved and moves the ball around a lot more than Kobe or Durant. He also has a bigger impact on the defensive end of the court. His career PER rating is 27.35, second highest of all time behind Michael Jordan who stands at 27.91.

”If LeBron was a different kind of player, he’d have a lot more points by now. He’s so unselfish. We give him the ball enough to score more. He just won’t do it. We’ve had the discussion. We’ve sat down at dinner and we both said, `Sometimes, I wish I had it in me.’ We talk about it, we joke about it, but when the game comes he’s unselfish.”- Dwyane Wade

Wade should know. LeBron has also crossed another milestone today, he has recorded his 5,000th assist. He is the 55th NBA player to reach 5,000 assists & just the 6th non-guard to reach the milestone when he dished it off to Dwyane Wade for the 262nd assist to him. These are the players who have been on the receiving end of LeBron’s dimes the most:

Ilgauskas- 785
Gooden- 356
Varejao- 305
Bosh- 269
Wade- 262

“Any time I join an elite group of greats that ever played this game . . . I don’t take this game for granted,” he said. “I understand the position I’m in and I understand the opportunity I was given. That’s why I give everything to this game and hopefully it’ll continue to give to me.”- LeBron James

LeBron has joined the elite club of players who have got 20,000 points and 5,000 assists. These are the only other players who have done it:

Michael Jordan
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Karl Malone
Larry Bird
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Garnett
Oscar Robertson
Jerry West
Clyde Drexler
Allen Iverson
Gary Payton
John Havlicek

“Getting the 5,000 assists seems like more of an accomplishment to me than the scoring”, James said. “Chris Paul just got his 5,000th assist [last month] and it’s cool to have the chance to join him. I never have seen myself as a scorer.”

Having been the youngest player to join the elite club, he could start a club of his own actually. Admission by qualification: Three MVPs, one Finals MVP, two Olympic gold medals, one scoring title, three conference championships, 20,000 points, 5,000 assists, 5,000 rebounds, 1,000 steals, 500 blocks.

How as he been able to do it? Staying healthy has played a major part in it. Only Andre Miller and Jason Terry have played more regular season games then LeBron has, over the last ten years. In total, LeBron has missed fewer than 25 games with an injury, not counting games before play-offs where he sat out to rest.

“It’s more than a number. It means I’ve been able to stay healthy, for one. And I’ve been able to, I guess, play at this level at a high level, and been around teammates that allow me to play at a high level, as well. So it is more than a number.”

My only regret is that Marc Jackson was coaching the Warriors instead of commentating. His cliche spewer would have shot through the roof at the two milestones LeBron crossed today.

To address the possibility that LeBron may retire as the greatest to ever play the game. The NBA scoring record is a mammoth 38,387 points held by Abdul-Jabbar. At LeBron’s current scoring pace of just over 27 points per game, he is on pace to pass Abdul-Jabbar’s total in 2020-21, when he is 36. Even if LeBron averages 20 points per game, he can reach that milestone in about ten years if he plays in about 70+ games per year. And think of the assists, rebounds, steals and blocks he would have accumulated.

Unless you are launching up shots with three guys guarding you like Kobe, you are liable to be overlooked as a killer on the court. It takes more will to find a way around an obstacle than to just shoot over it blindly. I’ve gone in detail about Kobe vs LeBron here. I’m not proclaiming that LeBron will retire as the greatest of all-time, but of all the players playing today, right now LeBron is leading the way in that talk.

Lets just forget the numbers and analysis for a minute and bask in the glow of this once in a generation talent we are witnesses to.