Amid his 23rd season in the NBA, LeBron James has a ton of absolutely absurd feats in the record books that speak to the incredible longevity throughout his NBA career. James Harden, who has played 17 seasons of his own, is quietly catching up to one of them.
One — that is how many players in NBA history can comfortably say they are both top-10 in career points and assists. That singular player is, of course, LeBron. James is the all-time leading scorer at over 43000 points and counting, but the Cleveland Cavaliers legend also ranks fourth on the all-time assist list at almost 12000 career dimes.
It may not be particularly likely that someone catches James in the top-five of both categories for quite some time, but Harden does have an opportunity to at least equal LeBron as a top-10 guy in both. The Cavaliers guard is already top-10 in points, as was reminded to everyone when The Beard eclipsed 29000 points in Monday's win over the Philadelphia 76ers. His assists are not far behind.
Congrats to @JHarden13 of the @cavs for becoming the 9th player in NBA history to reach 29,000 career points! pic.twitter.com/aT2GWibdOv
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2026
Harden is just outside of the top-10 in that category, currently ranking 12th with 8760 assists. Given his rate of production over the last few seasons, the aging Cavaliers star should cross that threshold at some point during the 2026-27 campaign.
Being in LeBron James' company shows just how underrated James Harden's career is
Harden currently sits at 444 total assists during the current season. In the four years prior to this one, the star guard has eclipsed 600 assists with ease consistently. That is much more than he will need to catch up to the all-time top-10.
Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas holds the barrier of entry right now for Harden. Thomas ranks 10th in NBA history for assists with 9061.
Given Harden's track record of expected production, that should be easily attainable. One would assume that target is hit at some point midway throughout next season, barring injury. At worst, it is likely to be toppled by the end of 2026-27.
Accomplishing that feat, and joining LeBron in the record books, would speak to two main things about Harden's career.
For one, the all-time offensive engine continues to fly under the radar in just how high he belongs among those rankings. The other point here would be how underrated Harden's longevity has been.
Harden has averaged at least 20 points per game in 13 of his last 14 seasons in the NBA. That dates back to his breakout campaign in 2012-13 with the Houston Rockets. There were three scoring titles claimed by him during that stretch.
Harden has also averaged at least six assists per game in each of his last 13 seasons. Tightening the margins, the current Cavs guard has also averaged at least eight assists in eight of his last 10 campaigns. That comes with leading the league twice in that statistical category.
If offense was something your team was craving, Harden was never in short supply. Whatever way he needed to mold himself to fit in, he did. The lack of championship has always overshadowed just how impressive some of these feats have been. Perhaps the Cavaliers can help him change that.