On Saturday, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon as the 10th-highest scorer in NBA history. Despite that impressive feat (at the age of 31 no less), James tells ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that scoring has never been a priority for him:
“Scoring has never been on my list of goals,” James said. “Facilitating, getting my guys involved and rebounding, defending, getting blocked shots and things of that nature always ranked above that.”
As impossible as it seems for a player who has amassed as many points as James has, he isn’t being dishonest about his playstyle; he has always looked to set up his teammates first, as evidenced by his career average of 6.9 assists per game.
In six games this season, James is averaging 22.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, and a staggering 10.7 assists per game. Both those rebounding and assist averages will be career-highs him should he maintain them for the entire season. James recently said that his teammate Kyrie Irving should be an MVP candidate. Scoring is the name of the game for Irving, and scoring becomes a lot easier when you have LeBron James passing you the ball.
The Cavs are currently the only undefeated team in basketball, having won all six of their matchups.
