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LeBron James Now Youngest NBA Player To Score 25,000 Points, Looking To Top All-Time Scoring List

By Val Powell
Published on: 22:45 PST, Nov 2, 2015

Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James made history on Monday night after reaching the 25,000-point achievement during Cleveland’s match against Philadelphia.

However, what made James stand out is that he became the youngest NBA player to reach the 25,000-point milestone at only 30 years and 307 days old.

The Cavaliers forward made history when he converted an alley-oop dunk with 8:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Cavs moved on the win against the Sixers, 107-100, thereby moving to 3-1 in the standings.

“What better way to close in on it than by me kind of high-flying a little bit. The man above definitely reached down and touched me a little bit,” said James, referring to the alley-oop pass that seemed too high for him.

James’ next target would be the scoring record of NBA legend Jerry West, who has 25,192 points in his career.

Based on James’ scoring prowess over the last three seasons, he could land on the 30k points club midway through the 2017-18 season.

In a list put together by the NBA of its all-time scorers, only 19 other players aside from James have passed the 25,000-point milestone, while only five managed to reach the 30,000-point achievement.

However, if James keeps up his scoring pace, he may even clinch the all-time scoring leadership from former Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points.

James’ feat surpassed that of Kobe Bryant’s in reaching the 25,000-point milestone. The Los Angeles Lakers guard reached it when he was 31 years, and 151 days old.

Interestingly at that time, LBJ spoiled Bryant’s celebration when his Cleveland Cavaliers won against Kobe’s Lakers, 93-87 on Jan. 21, 2010. He scored 37 points against Bryant’s 31 in that game.

The 11-time All-Star reached the 20,000-point mark in January 2013 against the Golden State Warriors. It took him almost two years to add 5,000 more.

Meanwhile, Cavs coach David Blatt and Sixers coach Brett Brown commented on James’ new milestone.

Blatt, who is currently in his second season with Cleveland, said that it is remarkable to see James become the youngest player ever to reach the milestone, especially considering the fact that James is also a great passer in the teams he played for.

According to the chart the NBA released, of all the players in the 25,000-point club, James is second in the assists department with 6,326 dimes. The top player in both points and assists is Oscar Robertson with 26,710 points and 9,887 assists.

As a clear picture of what he has been doing in the past years, James finished the game with 22 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.

Brown on the other hand, commended LeBron for being able to live up to the hype he generated during his high school days, the time he entered the league in 2003, and up to now as he aims to bring the Cavs to its first NBA title.

Even Lebron’s teammates in Cleveland recognized that they are playing with one of the best, if not the best, to ever play the game.

Kevin Love, Mo Williams, and Matthew Dellavedova only have kind words for James, who returned to Cleveland in 2014-15, after four years with the Miami Heat.

Some of the all-time greats that James has already passed in the scoring list include Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing, Elgin Baylor, and Larry Bird.

The Akron, Ohio-raised James is only the seventh player to ever reach the 25k-point milestone in under 13 seasons in the NBA. The other players who have accomplished the feat are Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Robertson, and Dominique Wilkins.

[Image by Jason Miller, Getty Images]

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