Countdown to 5000 points

[KI4MVP]

LeBron James is on the verge of being the youngest player ever to score 5000 points. With 4941 points in his career, he needs 59 points to hit 5000 points for his career. Hit his averages and he'll reach that total in Utah saturday night. If not then, he should hit it tuesday night against the pacers.

I also noticed while checking this that for his career, he has 1261 rebounds and 1262 assists - virtually the same totals.

 

[Karma]

This leaves LeBron just 88 points to break into the Cavaliers top ten all time scorers with Jim Chones on 5729 points. LeBron is still 100 rebounds shy of Craig Ehlo who is number 10, but just 300 assists shy of Bingo Smith in the tenth spot. Remarkable effort in such a small space of time.

 

[KI4MVP]

I think you are missing a couple of zeros in that post.

 

[Karma]

That should read 1000 rebounds shy of Ehlo, not 100.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is now 7th all time in scoring for the Cavs. Pushing Chones to 11th, and LeBron back a tad further. Z is also now 6th all time in rebounds. Z is also closing in on Larry Nance's 2nd spot in blocked shots behind Hot Rod.

 

[fsqp13]

hmmm... ill be impressed when lbj overtakes teammate zee in the amount of time before the big guy retires

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

this is not as impressive as it sounds. eighteen year olds did not start entering the nba en masse until garnett was drafted by the timberwolves. then there was a flood of teenagers that diluted the league and decimated the college ranks.

the result is that the ncaa has become like juco ball - the top players seldom play more than two years and they have great success as freshmen and sophs because there are no upperclassmen. ncaa is a frosh-soph league.

the nba is a combination league of nba and ncaa players, with all of the ncaa juniors and seniors, along with many freshmen and sophmore occupying roster spots in the nba. when jerry west entered the nba, all of the players were men. Lebron started his career against a combination of kids and men. not the same thing.

lew alcindor could have entered the nba right out of high school 30 years ago. as a freshman he watched his ucla bruins win an ncaa championship, knowing that the varsity could not beat the freshman team. lew's freshman team was better than every other ncaa team in the county, but alcindor and lucious allen et al were not eligible for ncaa play or for nba play.

Lebron is making the most of his opportunity but it is an opportunity that did not exist for players even ten years ago - making comparisons impossible.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

Of course alcindor and Lebron are similar in some respects. by age 21 neither of them had ever made a game winning basket in the nba.

that is where the similarity ends when it comes to game winning baskets, because while Lebron has never made a game winning basket in high school or the ncaa (obviously) or the nba, alcindor made game winners at power memorial high school, at ucla, with the milwauke bucks and with the lakers. alcindor benefited from learning from john wooden.

 

[Karma]

Why has every thread turned into a LeBron clutch thread. ootbttnlagitnbasf, there are numerous threads to post this in.

 

[Glen Infante]

Clutch or no clutch, reaching 5000 points at the age of 21 is spectactular.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

karma, my point is that in 2006 the nba is watered down to the point where there are a lot of players in games that would have been in college years ago. that makes it easier for today's young players to score or even be in the league. i mentioned alcindor as an example of a player who was able to dominate the ncaa at the same age as Lebron when he entered the nba, but alcindor could not dominate because he was limited by ncaa rules. today, many players that alcindor was able to dominate in college are playing the watered down nba.

i mentioned the game winning shot issue to point out that volume is not the same as prolific in a game where the last shot often decides the game. i think that is a valid point when discussing scoring.

i remain a huge fan of Lebron and am very impressed with his scoring ability. all of his ability. but to imply that he is better at scoring at age 21 because he is the first to score 5000 points at such a young age belies a lack of understanding about the history of the nba, in my opinion.

 

[Karma]

Personally I was not impressed with the age factor, moreso the time frame he did it in. Of course more teams, and more younger players coming in "waters down" the standard. But he is doing a phenominal job and is probably rated a top 5 player already.

 

[Recluse]

Clutch or no clutch, reaching 5000 points at the age of 21 is spectactular.

What's even more amazing is that he'll probably top 7,000 points at the age of 21.

With 46 more games this year, and about 27 next season before Dec. 30th (his birthday), that's 73 more games before he turns 22. At 30 ppg, that's around 2,200 more points.

 

[KI4MVP]

YOUNGEST TO 5000 POINTS

PLAYER YEARS DAYS
Kobe Bryant 22 116
Tracy McGrady 22 226
Shaquille O'Neal 22 292
Shareef Abdur-Rahim 23 12
John Drew 23 33


LeBron James - 21 years 21 days has 4941 points before the game tonight

 

[KI4MVP]

some people want to diminish the significance of this. To put it in perspective, not only will LeBron score 5000 points before anyone else in the loaded 2003 draft, he'll also do it before anyone in the 2002 draft.

 

[Recluse]

Anybody have the list for fastest to 7,000?