WITNESSing Greatness All-Star Edition: LeBron Seizes Scoring Record

LeBron James had a quietly historic game last Sunday as he became the all-time leading scorer in All-Star Game history, passing Kobe Bryant for the record.

James enjoyed a memorable weekend as the NBA celebrated the career of Kobe Bryant who played in his final All-Star Game. The Cleveland Cavaliers star had some memorable moments with the L.A. Lakers legend as the two guarded one another at different points in the game.

Eventually, the two stars embraced as the final horn sounded signaling the last time Bryant will participate in the NBA’s mid-season extravaganza.

While the rest of the NBA was busy celebrating one of its most storied players, James was sneakily moving past legends as the game progressed. Not only did he become the All-Star Game’s career scoring leader, he also moved ahead of a few other all-time great players as well.

Here is a recap of James’ career All-Star accomplishments over the weekend:

With seven dimes for the ball game, LeBron moved past three all-time greats in the career assists department en route to securing sixth place overall.

• Scoring – By netting 13 points to Bryant’s 10, James took the All-Star Game’s career scoring record with a total of 291 points in the 12 games he has played so far. He bested Bryant by a point (290) but will be way ahead of him in succeeding contests.
• Field Goals Made – LeBron tied Kobe for the career lead in field goals made with both players making 119 total for their careers.
• Assists – With seven dimes for the ball game, LeBron moved past three all-time greats in the career assists department en route to securing sixth place overall. Jason Kidd (69), John Stockton (71), and Gary Payton (73) were the players that the King supplanted along the way.
• Three-Pt Field Goals Made – James only made one three-point shot in the game but it simply added to his record number of career makes with 28 overall.
• Games Started – When LeBron was announced as a starter for the East, it marked his 12th time to be selected for the honor. He is currently tied with Tim Duncan and Bob Cousy for third all-time. Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are tied for second place with 13 overall starts with Bryant in first place with 15.

Other notable categories in which LeBron is in the top ten all-time are listed below.

• Games Played – 5th (12; Tied with six others)
• Minutes Played – 7th (363)
• Field Goal Attempts – 3rd (232)
• Three-Point Field Goal Attempts – 1st (82)
• Defensive Rebounds – 3rd (66)
• Steals – 10th (17; Tied with Scottie Pippen)
• Turnovers – 4th (38; Tied with Allen Iverson)
• Minutes per game – 30.0 (4th; Tied with two others)
• Points per game – 3rd (24.2 ppg)

There you have it! Even in the All-Star Game, the King is working his way to the top of career records.

In the next installment of WITNESSing Greatness, we’ll continue to chronicle LeBron’s all-time career exploits as the Cavaliers strive to build on the success of the first half of the season.