Heading into last night's game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James needed seven points to reach the 30,000 career point milestone.
A club of ONE! @KingJames is the ONLY player in @NBAHistory with 30,000 points, 7,000 rebounds and 7,000 assists!#ThisIsWhyWePlay #LeBronJames #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/4n5lmt7Wzo
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2018
He finished the game with 28 points. While that was more than enough to get James into the club, it was not however enough for the Cavaliers to win the game. The Spurs won 114-102 in San Antonio.
James became the seventh player with 30,000 career points when he hit a jumper with one second left in the first quarter.
In addition, James became the first NBA player to add 7,000 rebounds and 7,000 assists to his point total.
He was recognized by the arena before the second quarter and got a standing ovation from Spurs fans. James patted his heart and said "thank you so much."
ESPN reports on his reaction to the career event:
"Just a special moment," James said after the game. "I just started thinking about everything. My journey from being a kid who first picked up a basketball when I was 5 years old to playing organized basketball when I was 9 all the way up to this point.
"I give a lot of thanks to a lot of people. This is a special moment. It's something I never set out to do. I'm not even a score-first guy when it comes to playing basketball. I love getting my teammates involved and seeing my teammates be excited about scoring and me getting the assist and things of that nature."
James is not known for being a scorer, but "[dominating] in all facets --rebounding, assisting, defending, getting some blocked shots...," explained James. He has averaged 27.1 points a game since he began playing in the league in 2003, at the age of 18 and right out of high school.
The 14-time All-Star is also the youngest person to join the prestigious point club. He's done it all at the age of 33 years and 24 days.
He bested Kobe Bryant, who was 34 years and 104 days when he reached the mark.
Others on the points' list are: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Dirk Nowitzki (30,808).
The complete list of participants for the NBA's All-Star Game on Feb. 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was unveiled Tuesday night.
James will be the captain for the Eastern Conference and Stephen Curry will head the Western Conference.
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