WITNESSing Greatness: LeBron Achieves All-Time Status in Playoffs Points and Assists

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are once again in the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to a record-breaking series sweep of the Atlanta Hawks.

On a personal career level, James achieved something that no other NBA player has accomplished.

Before the series versus the Hawks, James was already fourth in all-time playoffs assists. Scoring-wise, he was in sixth place in his playoffs career when he tied Tim Duncan for fifth after the first game of the series. By the second game, however, he took sole possession of fifth place and left Duncan in his dust.

By doing so, he became the first and only player in the top five in playoffs points and assists in NBA history. This is an achievement that no current player is close to reaching.

Although Tony Parker (10th and 5th) is the only other active player in the top ten in both categories, he’s still more than a thousand points away from being in the top five and he’s not even a volume scorer.

Others who are in the top ten in points and assists are Michael Jordan (1st and 10th), Kobe Bryant (3rd and 9th), and Larry Bird (9th and 6th).

Furthermore, if James continues to play long into the playoffs and into the NBA Finals, he’ll be the only player in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, and steals when he eventually takes the 10th spot in boards from Bird.

…LeBron (5,208) is now in the top five in career playoffs scoring when he surged ahead of Tim Duncan (5,172).

Looking back at the Cleveland vs. Atlanta series, here are LeBron’s current total playoff numbers and the players whose career numbers he passed.

• Games – After another four game sweep in the playoffs, James has played in a total of (186) and in 13th place, breaking his tie with John Stockton (182) and moving ahead of Byron Scott (183) and Robert Parish (184).
• Points – As I mentioned above, LeBron (5,208) is now in the top five in career playoffs scoring when he surged ahead of Tim Duncan (5,172).
• Rebounds – James (1,628) moved past Hakeem Olajuwon (1,621) in rebounds after Game 4.
• Blocks – In an interesting twist, James was 28th in all-time playoff blocks after the first round of the playoffs but ended up 29th (162) after four games against the Hawks. How did that happen? That’s because his two blocks in the series were surpassed by Dwyane Wade (166) who overtook him with an astounding performance in the Miami Heat’s series versus the Raptors.
• Three-Pt Field Goals Made – James (267) put Robert Horry (261) in his rear view mirror for 8th place in threes made and is now tied for 7th with Chauncey Billups.
• Turnovers – LeBron (655) is now in the unenviable position of second place in turnovers after he passed Kobe (647) and Shaquille O’Neal (649).

LeBron (1,246) only needs 18 assists to grab 3rd place from Jason Kidd (1,263).

Here are LeBron’s targets in the next round of the playoffs and beyond assuming they advance all the way to the NBA Finals.

• Games – After the next four games, James (186) will have tied Magic Johnson (190) for 12th place in playoff games. If the Toronto series doesn’t end in a sweep by either the Cavs or the Raptors, James will move past the L.A. Lakers legend in the next game.
• Points – LeBron (5,208) will be taking down Shaq (5,250) from his lofty 4th spot in scoring after two games. He only needs to average 21.5 per game in the next two to get there.
• Rebounds – Currently at 12th place in the category, LeBron (1,628) is likely to move into 11th where Dennis Rodman (1,676) resides if the series with the Raptors gets extended or if the Cavs advance to the NBA Finals.
• Assists – LeBron (1,246) only needs 18 assists to grab 3rd place from Jason Kidd (1,263). That will likely happen between the second and the fourth game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
• Steals – James (324) needs 15 steals to move into 4th place presently occupied by John Stockton (338).
• Blocks – With his next block, James (164) will move into a quadruple tie for 26th together with Vlade Divac, Darryl Dawkins, and Greg Ostertag (165). His next one will tie him with his buddy Wade (166) for 25th. His third block of the series will tie him again, this time with Jermaine O’Neal (167). After that, the next goal is Horace Grant who has amassed 173 blocks in his playoffs career.
• Free Throws Made – Bryant (1,320) is still ahead by 23 freebies for James (1,297) to tie and 24 to overtake him for second place. When that happens, Michael Jordan (1,463) will still be too far up for LeBron to catch up to this season. Maybe in the next two seasons?
• Three-Pt Field Goals Made – James’ (267) will break his tie with Billups for 7th place and will take 6th place from Paul Pierce (272) after his sixth three-pointer in the Cavs-Raptors series. LeBron is still 19 threes away from the 5th-place Derek Fisher (285), however.

After the second round of the playoffs, here’s a summary of LeBron’s standing in NBA playoffs history:

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• Games: 186 (13th)
• Points: 5,208 (5th)
• Rebounds: 1,628 (12th)
• Assists: 1,246 (4th)
• Steals: 324 (5th)
• Blocks: 164 (29th)
• Field Goals Made: 1,822 (6th)
• Free-Throws Made: 1,297 (3rd)
• Three-Pt Field Goals Made: 267 (T-7th)
• Turnovers: 655 (2nd)
• Triple-Doubles: 14 (2nd)

James will be wreaking havoc once more in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals with the Raptors looking to derail the King’s next steps in regaining his throne. Expect LeBron to be in beast mode as he is now just four wins away from another trip to the NBA Finals.

Watch out as records will be broken again and again in the next few games.

We’ll keep you posted with LeBron James’ career achievements in the coming games on WITNESSing Greatness, only here at KingJamesGospel.com.