The NBA’s greatest players are all statistical marvels, freak athletes, and skilled players that dominated certain aspects of the game. The game’s greatest centers are all on the lists for most rebounds and blocks of all time. While the elite guards tend to dominate the lists of steals and assists. But the true transcendental greats are those that manage to dominate in one more aspect of the game as well.
LeBron James is a statistical marvel, he is arguably the most complete player in the history of basketball. There is nothing he can’t do on the basketball court. As of now, there is only one player ahead of him when it comes to the most points scored in NBA regular season history, and that’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And even though they have no relationship according to LeBron, the two greats share something unique.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar And LeBron James Are The Only Players In The Top 10 In 3 Major Stat Categories
Being in the Top 10 in any major stat category is an incredibly impressive feat, this is something very few players can claim to have done. And these lists are ever-evolving so which players are on them keeps changing from time to time. But as they are now, LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only players in the Top 10 of 3 categories all-time, which are points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is temporarily top of the all-time points list, but LeBron James is incredibly close to passing him. The King only has to average 16 points per game in the 2022-23 season to do it, but even when and if he does, Kareem will still be comfortably second. Abdul-Jabbar is third in rebounds all-time with nearly 17,500 to his name, and 3rd all-time in blocks with over 3,000 throughout his career.
LeBron James isn’t as high on those lists as Kareem is in his categories, but he’s the only other player with the same record. The King is about to become No. 1 on the points list, and is 7th on the all-time assists list, even though he could comfortably retire in at least 4th place. The 3rd category for LeBron might be an unexpected one, but James is 10th on the all-time steals list, an impressive achievement.
It has taken both players incredible longevity in their careers to reach the lofty numbers that they have managed. There’s no confirming if they’ll stay on these lists forever, the sport is forever growing, but LeBron and Kareem’s points tallies will be incredibly hard for whoever comes after them to break.
