By the end of the 2016-17 NBA season, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James will be No. 7 on the league's all-time scoring list, passing Moses Malone and Shaquille O'Neal. Garnering 27, 359 career points, James has moved ahead of Elvin Hayes into ninth place and will exceed Malone (27, 409) soon for eighth. He also became the first front-court player to have 7,000 assist, as well as the only player in NBA history with at least 27,000 points, 7,000 rebounds and 7,000 assists.
USA Today quoted James Saturday night: "I've played with two great organizations that I've been able to do what I do. They've allowed me to be the player that I want to be. It just shows that's the triple threat of me: to rebound, to pass, to put the ball in the hole a little bit. I'm just honored, just blessed, and I just try to continue to give it to my teammates, give it to my fans, give it to this organization every single night that I go out there. That's my job, to be the only person ever to put those numbers up. It's pretty cool because this is the game I love, this is the game I've watched my whole life growing up, so um, it's incredible."
CBS Sports added that James is likely to pass in the next two weeks Tim Hardaway for 15th in assists. To top it all off, he finished with 44 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, a block, and made 17 of 24 shots in a 116-105 victory against the Hornets. Cleveland advances with 17-5 this season.
The question now is where will James end up on the all-time scoring list? Is it possible for him to collect 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists? There are assumptions that James could come close to 32, 000 points, moving ahead of Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain into the fifth spot, leaving him behind Michael Jordan (32, 292), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Karl Malone (36, 928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38, 387). Surpassing what Malone and Abdul-Jabbar will definitely require longevity and scoring consistency. Regardless, it will be interesting to track his points, rebounds and assists as he piles up extraordinary statistics.
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