Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
LeBron James is now #3 in the all-time NBA career scoring list.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Szagola/AP.)
Over the years, we all heard that LeBron James was a pass-first kind of guy. And that is true. To a certain extent. It’s obvious the man can score the basketball. He’s a freight train with point guard skills and a shooting range that expanded over the years. Simply put, it’s hard to stop LeBron James.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden have all won multiple scoring titles. So it gets kind of lost that LeBron has won the scoring title once upon a time. In 2007-08, LeBron averaged 30.0 points per game to lead the league. That wasn’t even his highest scoring season in both average and total points; that would go to 2005-06 when he lit up with 31.4 points per game (although Kobe Bryant (yeah, I know) and Allen Iverson averaged more than Bron that season).
Anyway, LeBron wasn’t an ironman in the “consecutive games” sense but in 14 of his 15 seasons, he played 90 percent of the games (equivalent to 74 games; he played 62 of the 66 in the lockout-shorted 2011-12 season). LeBron still played 69 (I am so mature) in that other season so he didn’t miss an egregious amount of games. It was only last season that his season was cut short to 55 games because of a groin injury. But for most of his career, LeBron James enjoyed remarkable health. He is now in his 17th season.
He also continues to score at an incredible rate. This season, he is averaging 25.3 points per game with little signs of slowing down. Father Time eventually catches up to all of us but LeBron is doing what he can to ward it off.
A lot of points. Staying healthy for a lot of years. That’s what it takes to get to the top tier of the NBA all-time scoring list. On Saturday night, LeBron passed Kobe to get to THIRD on that illustrious list. THIRD.
Look at THESE names.
(Data from Basketball Reference.)
That is also how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone were able to get to the top of that list. Kareem played 74 or more games in 18 of his 20 seasons (65 and 62 in the other two) and averaged 21 or more points in his first 17 seasons.
Karl Malone played 19 years. He only missed 10 games in his first 18 years (which included the lockout-shortened 50-game season in 1999, when he missed only one game) before his knee injuries cost him 40 games in his last season. After his rookie season averaging 14.3 points, he scored 20 or more per game for the next 17 healthy seasons.
Can LeBron catch Karl Malone? It’s hard to say as his health and production are hard to keep up at this stage of his career. If Bron continued to average 25 points per game and stayed healthy (let’s say 75 games per season), he could catch Malone at the first third of the 2021-22 season. On the same rate, he could snag the #1 spot from Kareem either late in that same season or early in the 2022-23 season. But who’s to say LeBron will even play by that time? And once again, Father Time is lurking and is undefeated.
Nevertheless, we are seeing one of the greatest careers in its twilight. LeBron really has nothing left to prove but we are all witnesses to the accomplishments he will continue to add in the few seasons he has left.
Congrats, LeBron, to getting to the #3 spot in the all-time scoring list.
Bullet Passes
Rudy Gobert was amazing in this clutch block. The great Mo Dakhil showed that Delon Wright could have prevented this from happening by blocking Gobert’s route but Gobert is one of the few that can make this block after getting beat off the dribble.
This is a MONSTER block from Gobert and seals the win, but Wright should first try to cut off Gobert’s route to recover and then use the rim to protect the ball from him by finishing on the other side of the rim. pic.twitter.com/jM2y85a9UZ
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) January 26, 2020
So the Sixers defeated the Lakers at home. They’ve won 5 of 6 games. Let’s not forget how good Ben Simmons has been during that span: 23.3 points, 9.3 boards, 9.0 assists, and 2.5 steals while shooting .704 (!!!) from the field. Simmons went for 28-10-8 and four steals against the Lake Show.
Kyrie Irving went for 45 points in an overtime win against the Pistons. He probably also hypothesized that we will all become inanimated objects in another life. KIDDING.
Kyrie was not the only player to have a big night. Zach LaVine continues to make a case for the all-star team as he went off for 44-10-8.
The Thunder have quietly won 5 straight games. And, uh, they have the same win total as the Rockets and Mavericks. Now #2 and #7 (which is where the Thunder are perched) are only separated by 5 games. Uh-oh.
The Scoreboard
DAL 107 (28-17) @ UTA 112 (32-13)
BRK 121 (19-25) @ DET 111 (17-30) (OT)
CHI 118 (18-30) @ CLE 106 (12-34)
OKC 113 (28-19) @ MIN 104 (15-31)
LAL 91 (36-10) @ PHI 108 (30-17)
Watch This Play
Alex Caruso on the break usually means trouble! He leaves the ball for the legendary LeBron.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Basketball Twins.)
That’s how you run a fastbreak.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.