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WITNESSing Greatness: LeBron Becomes Only Player in Top 25 of 3 All-Time Categories

By Omar Josef Guerrero

Mar 5, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket between Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) and forward Amir Johnson (90) during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket between Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) and forward Amir Johnson (90) during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have had quite a dramatic week but LeBron James was able to complete a milestone that he alone achieved in NBA history.

When he recorded his second steal of the night, James became the only player to rank in the top 25 players in all-time scoring, assists and steals.

No one else has gotten close and no one else is even remotely close behind him.

What’s even more amazing about LeBron’s game against the Celts is that he recorded four more milestones as well. That’s right, folks! The King had five big career accomplishments in one game!

When he scored his tenth point in the third quarter, it was the King’s 700th straight game scoring in double figures. Only Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have achieved such a feat of scoring consistency in the history of the game.

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LeBron also passed fellow active player Tim Duncan for 14th place in the career scoring list when the San Antonio Spurs’ big man sat out the game that day against the Sacramento Kings to rest.

In the career field goals side, James passed Jerry West for 17th place when he made his 10th of 11 field goals for the game.

And lastly, when he made his third free-throw of the game, he took the 17th spot away from Spurs icon David Robinson.

And if that wasn’t enough, we haven’t even talked about his other games after the NBA All-Star break!

Let’s check out James’ career accomplishments the past two weeks once again:

  • Scoring – As mentioned above, LeBron (26,378) passed Duncan (26,366) to claim 14th place in the career scoring department. With 28 points in the game against the Celtics, he extended his double-figure scoring streak, joining Michael Jordan (866) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to score at least 10 or more points in 700 consecutive games.
  • Field Goals Made – After the All-Star break resumed, he passed Moses Malone (9,435) for 18th place in the category versus the Chicago Bulls (2/18). And again in the Celtics game, James moved ahead of West to claim the number 17 slot.
  • Free-Throws Made – Against the Washington Wizards (3/4), LeBron zoomed ahead of Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins (6,031) for 18th place in free-throws made. In the aforementioned game against Boston, James (6,038) leaped past Robinson (6,035) when he made five of them to take possession of 17th all-time.
  • Steals – And finally in the steals column, James (1,639) passed Gus Williams (1,638) for the 25th spot all-time against (who else?) Gang Green.

With such a busy past two weeks, you would think that it would take a while before LeBron goes up in the career categories again. But in his next games, he’ll be knocking down a few more legends off their lofty positions with no letup in sight.

Feb 21, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) controls the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) defends during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) controls the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) defends during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Here are the categories in which other NBA all-time greats will have to move over to make room for the King.

  • Scoring – As mentioned above, LeBron passed Duncan (26,366) to claim 14th place in the career scoring department. With 28 points in the game against the Celtics, he extended his double-figure scoring streak, joining Michael Jordan (866) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to score at least 10 or more points in 700 consecutive games. In the next game, LeBron took John Havlicek’s place as 13th all-time when he scored on a dunk with 8:11 left in the third quarter versus the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. He finished the game with 28 points and 26,406 points overall for his career.
  • Field Goals Made – After the All-Star break resumed, he passed Moses Malone (9,435) for 18th place in the category versus the Chicago Bulls (2/18). And again in the Celtics game, James moved ahead of West to claim the number 17 slot. He currently has 9,521 total field goals after making 11 versus the Grizzlies.
  • Free-Throws Made – Against the Washington Wizards (3/4), LeBron zoomed ahead of Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins (6,031) for 18th place in free-throws made. Then in the aforementioned game against Boston, James overtook Robinson (6,035) when he made five of them to take possession of 17th all-time. His total now stands at 6,042.
  • Steals – And finally in the steals column, James passed Gus Williams (1,638) for the 25th spot all-time against (who else?) Gang Green. With another steal the next game, he has a total of 1,640 since he first donned an NBA jersey.

With such a busy past two weeks, you would think that it would take a while before LeBron goes up in the career categories again. But in his next games, he’ll be knocking down a few more legends off their lofty positions with no letup in sight.

Here are the categories in which other NBA all-time greats will have to move over to make room for the King.

…James (1,640) needs eight steals to get to the 24th spot owned by TNT analyst and NBA great Charles Barkley (1,648)…

  • Scoring – James (26,406) is within striking distance of 12th placer Wilkins (26,668) who is only 62 points ahead of him. Expect LeBron to take his spot in the next two to three games.
  • Free-Throws Made – Wilt Chamberlain (6,057) is James (6,042) next target in this category. Averaging roughly five free-throws made per game, he’ll likely grab 16th place from the Stilt in the next three or four games.
  • Assists – Former Phoenix Suns star Kevin Johnson (6,711) won’t be able to keep his 19th ranking in assists for long when James (6,697) takes it from him in the next two to three games.
  • Three-Pt Field Goals Made – This is one tricky category because the player ahead of James (33rd, 1,322) is still playing. Manu Ginobli (1,624) owns 32nd place and there’s a chance that he and LeBron will be switching places in the next games depending on how both of them perform from the three-point line. What’s sure for the Cavs’ leader is he will definitely move past Mitch Richmond (1,626) in about two to five games. Afterwards, Baron Davis is next with (1,332). Whether he claims the 30th spot or the 31st is predicated on Ginobili and his three-point shooting in the final month and a half of the season.
  • Steals – Finally, in the ballhawking category, James (1,640) needs eight steals to get to the 24th spot owned by TNT analyst and NBA great Charles Barkley (1,648). Averaging two steals the past eight games, he will probably take the spot in four to five games.

What a historic previous two weeks for the King! And he’s still not yet done as he adds to his legacy in the coming games with 21 games left in the Cavs’ schedule.

Stay tuned for more mind-boggling milestones for LeBron James on WITNESSing Greatness right here on KingJamesGospel.com.