LeBron James has spent 23 seasons in the NBA ignoring the usual rules about age, and he’s not finished yet.
The 41-year-old opens his 24th NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers in October, further than any player in league history has gone. Vince Carter’s 22 seasons was the old benchmark. James passed it and kept going.
Four milestones are within reach this season. That includes an outright NBA record and a scoring total no player has ever reached. The other two are spots on all-time lists he has been climbing for two decades.
Here is what each one needs, and roughly how long it should take.
LeBron James could be in for a big milestone season in Philadelphia
James sits on 12,016 assists for his career, 75 behind Jason Kidd in third on the all-time list. He averaged 7.2 assists per game last season. At that rate it would take 11 games, so Kidd should be surpassed before Thanksgiving.
If he can up his playmaking output in Philly, Chris Paul’s spot may also be under threat in the final weeks of the season.
Steals are next. James has 2,417, with Gary Payton just 29 ahead of him in fifth. He managed 1.2 steals per game last year, which points to roughly 25 games. Call it early December, a few weeks before he turns 42.
Then the wins. James has played in 1,048 regular-season wins, 27 short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 1,074. He already holds the combined regular-season and playoff mark, taken from Abdul-Jabbar late last season.
That one depends on Philadelphia, not just on him. A team winning 60 percent of its games gets him there in about 45 games, which lands somewhere near the All-Star break.
Then there’s the tricky one — the 45,000 point mark.
James finished last season on 43,440 points, leaving 1,560 to go. At his 20.9 points per game from last year, that’s about 75 games. He has not played 75 in a season since 2017-18.
The schedule at least helps. Philadelphia has 13 back-to-backs, down from 16, and the fewest stretches of three games in four nights in the league. Adam Silver admitted the NBA held off on finalizing the calendar while James weighed his decision, and the Sixers were the ones who benefited.
He could get all four. The assists and steals are close enough to be formalities. The wins record needs the Sixers to be good, which they should be with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown around him. Only 45,000 asks him for a full, healthy season and enough responsibility to match last year’s scoring average.
Do that, and he finishes the year holding the scoring record, the win record, and two more top-five spots in all-time stats.
With every season that passes, LeBron further cements his status as the most durable player in NBA history and one of the greatest to ever grace the hardwood.
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