LeBron James on pace to reach uncharted territory in NBA record books

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James – history in the making.

BY the end of the 2016-17 NBA season — barring an injury to one of the game’s healthiest players — Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James will be No. 7 on the league’s all-time scoring list, passing Moses Malone and Shaquille O’Neal.

James (27,359 career points) has moved ahead of Elvin Hayes into ninth place and will pass Malone (27,409) soon for eighth. He also became the first front-court player with 7,000 assists as well as the only player in league history with at least 27,000 points, 7,000 rebounds and 7,000 assists.

“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,” James told reporters Saturday night. “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.”

So, where will James end up on the all-time scoring list? Can he collect 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists? Don’t ask him. He has long maintained he doesn’t project like that, saying he leaves it to the sports media to discuss it now. But he has said he will sit down after his playing days are done to talk about his career and accomplishments in-depth.

Let’s do the projecting for him.

Next season, if James, who turns 32 on Dec. 30, averages at least 23 points and plays in at least 72 games — there’s no reason he shouldn’t considering he said this is the best he’s felt in two seasons — he will finish 2017-18 with more than 30,000 points. He’ll likely still be behind Dirk Nowitzki on the all-time list.  www.wkyc.com