LeBron James is on the verge of ensuring he is one of the most impressive NBA players of all time by virtue of his incredible longevity in the sport. The Los Angeles Lakers forward will enter his 20th season this year and will hope to set multiple records over the course of the season.
The record of being the oldest to win a Finals MVP might be a challenge for the 37-year-old, as his Lakers team is not expected to be a realistic contender for the title. But James can set two extremely impressive all-time records, with the first being LBJ passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, something everyone’s expecting this season. However, James can also surpass Magic Johnson for #6 on the all-time assists list with just 97 more dimes this season.
LeBron James needs just 97 assists to pass Magic Johnson on the all-time assist ladder 🤯
(h/t ESPN) pic.twitter.com/JGpJC3R0sF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 27, 2022
LeBron is currently one of the seven players in NBA history to have racked up over 10,000 assists in their career. He is currently at 10,045, 96 behind Johnson’s 10,141. As far as Kareem goes, LeBron just needs to average 16.2 points next season to surpass KAJ, with many expecting him to do so within the first 50 games of the season.
LeBron James Using Longevity To Build His GOAT Case?
When it comes to the greatest in the NBA, fans can go by 2 metrics. The first is to look at the player that was unquestionably the most dominant in the league while ensuring their teams are unstoppable. Michael Jordan is the GOAT for people who value stuff like this, as his 6-0 record in the Finals will forever be untouchable.
The second metric is longevity, which looks at which NBA players played the game at the highest level for the longest time. LeBron being able to be in the position he’s in today is incredible, as we have never seen a player like him before. He will sit in the top 10 of many important all-time statistical lists by virtue of playing at the highest level of basketball for 20 seasons.
