'King' James youngest to reach 20,000 points

OAKLAND, California (AFP) –

LeBron James of the Miami Heat pictured during a game against the Chicago Bulls on January 4, 2013. James on Wednesday became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points, moving past the milestone with 25 points in Miami’s 92-75 victory over Golden State.

LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points, moving past the milestone with 25 points in Miami’s 92-75 victory over Golden State.

James’s jump shot with 2:45 remaining in the second quarter gave him 20,001 career points. He came into the contest needing 18 points to become the 38th player in NBA history to reach the mark.

“It means everything,” James said. “It means I’m healthy, I’m able to be out there on the floor and also my team-mates have allowed me to get to this milestone.”

The previous youngest to reach the 20,000-point mark was Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who got there when he was 29 years, 122 days old, while James was 28 years and 17 days old.

James reached the 20,000-point plateau in his 726th regular-season game. While he was the youngest to get there, Wilt Chamberlain needed just 499 games to reach the milestone.

In the first quarter James’s pass to a driving Dwyane Wade for a dunk also gave him a 5,000th career assist, a mark he said he was equally proud of.

“Twenty-thousand points is big-time,” James said. “I know the list is small and I’m humbled by it, but also 5,000 assists means a lot as well because I’ve had some good team-mates over the years and I appreciate every single one of them.”

James became the 13th player with 20,000 points and 5,000 assists.

Even better for James, the Heat won easily. Wade contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Miami, who have won two of their last three.

Mario Chalmers added 15 points, Chris Bosh scored 11 and Ray Allen scored 10 for the Heat, who rested their starters for the bulk of the fourth quarter and still maintained a double-digit lead.