There goes any chance of a title defence 
Kyrie is such a cancer.
Never thought this record would ever be broken
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Important context is that he also passed Magic this year in career assists. He really is a one man basketball team
If you look at the list of top 25 in each category he is the only player ever to make both. There are two current players close to adding their names and could get there with a good end of season. I’d be really surprised if even most NBA fans could guess who given their media coverage (you’d never guess players portrayed this way are on the assists list).
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Yet he isn’t a better passer than Magic and he certainly isn’t a better scorer or player than Jordan. Fantastic achievements due to his unheard of longevity but they don’t move the needle when it comes to his place in the all time standings.
Tend to agree with this. In terms of singular impact and tough trophy wins I’ll take Jordan then Kobe and Shaq before Lebron.
top 25 assist list, or top 25 of both (my answer is the same regardless I think)?
assuming Paul is already on the list (if only for assists, and I don’t think he’s scored enough to be on both)…Westrbrook and Harden?
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You got it…it’s Westbrook and Harden.
Both are already on the assists top 25 and now within touching distance of making it for points. Both have terrible reps as selfish players who score but dont win you games so I am stunned to see them so close to joining this company, but more so that they are already so historically high in assists.
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Lebron makes me wanna puke. he’s a mercenary player who jumps to teams that can give him a shot at good numbers. He’ll never be Jordan, or Kobe. But today’s game isn’t like it was in the 90’s, I don’t even watch anymore.
Westbrook averaged a triple double, so he’s averaged over 10 assists a season, so I’m not that surprised to be honest.
I’m also a big Rockets fan so I’ve probably watched hundreds of Harden games, and that boy can do everything on O, not just score. He has rep for playing iso ball and pounding air out of it, but it always ends with him shooting or a potential assist lol. He is one that can see the entire floor on offense.
Yet, it’s his place in the GIF hall of fame that is his career highlight
Lebron’s the most complete player ever, bar none. As @Limiescouse points out, the assists tell you that. I mean, how many finals did he drag Cleveland to before heading off to Miami? Then he went back to Cleveland and finished that business.
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plus…only a few people could be on that list of both. Lillard, but he’s a bit more of a scorer, Lowry, but he hasn’t always been a good scorer and was a bit of a late bloomer, John Wall destroyed by injuries, Curry could be on it, but Draymond probably takes some of his assist stats away, etc. Not that many old guy guards that have been great at both…or high usage iso centric enough to make it lol.
Yeah, I think the Miami thing was a bad look in general, even more so to have got so little out of it (2 titles and 2 runners up in 4 years puts into context the expectations that this is “so little”) but the Clevland thing is the right perspective. They were an awful side made into challengers because of his early career presence, at an age when his contemporaries were still playing NCAA ball. He left and they dissolved into a pathetic shambles over night that sustained for several seasons with no upturn in sight until he returned. They were contenders again overnight.
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Don’t understand the hate LeBron gets. He was dubbed “The Chosen One” while still a junior in high school. The pressure he has played under his entire career has been crazy - hes not only matched those expectations but surpassed them. An incredible player.
NBA might be the only sport where a superstar gets criticised for not wanting to slum it at the bottom of the league by the way. Boo hoo LeBron switches teams, boo hoo Kevin Durant went to Golden State… yes, good players want to play on good teams not spend their best years trying to elevate clubs who aren’t trying.
The really mad thing is that he’s such a selfless player on the court. He actually does work to get his teammates involved and make the team better. If he was as individual as some of the other great players he would have broken this record a long time ago.
The idea he’s not a great scorer? Nonsense, he’s 5th all time on PPG average while also being a top assister. JJ Reddick broke down all the various criticisms of him on his podcast and none of them stand up to scrutiny. He’s a great scorer, arguably the best ever. He’s a great assister, arguably the best ever. He’s a “clutch” player, arguably the most clutch ever. I don’t really care about the whole “who is better… Jordan or LeBron?” Thing that ESPN do everytime there is a lull in the season, I just know we are witnessing a moment in history from one of the best players to ever hold a ball.
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Jordan fine, flip a coin you can’t go wrong. Kobe… I guess I’ll accept that. He’s a great player but he’s not very efficient and definitely a more limited talent base than LeBron.
Shaq?! In today’s NBA? No way at all, that’s madness.
you put Shaq in today’s NBA he’d still just put people in the basket. You can criticize that he showed up out of shape and fat every season but by the time playoffs started he’d be trucking guys on the block and dunking everything in site, and that translates to every era. He’d stuff Embid and Jokic into the rim today as well. They might also score, but they wouldn’t stop him.
Agree on Kobe. Much more selfish player, didn’t elevate anyone, but was good enough to drag teams to wins when he was in his prime, and Shaq was probably the best player on his first title winning teams. Jordan and Lebron, then everyone else. Didn’t see Russell or generation before mid/late 80s, so can’t comment Russell or Wilt.
Lebron made it to 8 straight NBA finals. 8 straight. That’s legit insane. Jordan won 6 in a row, with a break while he decided to play baseball lol. Only Bill Russell has similar #s of finals.
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Shaq was a beast. In his prime he was unstoppable, but not as well rounded as the others. Couldn’t hit free throws for shit. Different type of player. 23.7 points per game not shabby but mostly dunks and layups.
Interestingly, Bill Russell averaged only 15.1 points per game. Has 11 rings though.
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Only 8 teams in the league for many of those wins. Even at its strongest it was only a 14 team league. Has to diminish that achievement somewhat.
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The thing that counts against Lebron is that he switched teams three times to get those finals and the four titles. He ushered in the era of super teams like his Heat and the Warriors with Durant and the Thunder with Durant, Westbrook and James “The Beard” Harden. Not sure how good that was for the game.
Other than Jordan, I wouldn’t let anyone else have the ball in his hand with the playoff game in line than Kobe. He had the skills and the killer instinct and the courage to take control when it counted the most. Something LeBron hasn’t always done.
Shaq? Abso-fucking-lutely. There has been nobody like him and unlikely there ever will be. Absolute monster of a centre. Utterly dominant. With the way fouls are called now he doesn’t even need to make that many free throws, he’d foul out half the opposition by the third quarter! And no centre can do anything to stop him.
Double him, he was a very good passer out if a double team and with the current three shooting trend they’d be running up the score for fun.
In the current day and age if he were made to be a bit fitter than he used to be he would destroy the league. He was insane with his size plus athleticism in his first three seasons at Orlando.
Btw Jordan didn’t win 6 in a row. Shaq’s Magic stopped them