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LeBron James has often pointed out that he enjoys spreading the ball around as much as he enjoys scoring. But as he sat just 7 points short of 30,000 for his career leading into Tuesday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, the notoriously unselfish superstar threw an online alley-oop to himself off the backboard.
“Wanna be one of the first to congratulate you on this accomplishment/achievement tonight that you’ll reach!” James wrote in an Instagram post that featured a photo from his high school days. “Only a handful has reach/seen it too and while I know it’s never been a goal of yours from the beginning try (please try) to take a moment for yourself on how you’ve done it!”
The post went up more than seven hours before James’s Cleveland Cavaliers tipped off against the Spurs in San Antonio, but he had good reason to be confident: He had been held to fewer than 7 points just three times in his career, and the last time came on Dec. 29, 2004 when he was 19 years old.
Sure enough, with 1 second left in the first quarter, he sank a 19-footer, giving him 8 points in the game and pushing him to 30,001 in his career. He finished the game — a 114-102 loss — with 28 points, leaving him with 30,021, or 8,366 short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s N.B.A. record.
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Talking to reporters after the game, Dwyane Wade, who won two N.B.A. championships with James in Miami before joining him in Cleveland, said he was happy he could be on the court for his friend’s achievement.
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“He can start moving to 35 now,” Wade joked. “I’m sure he’ll be there in no time.”
James joined Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki as the only N.B.A. players to reach 30,000. And at 33 years and 24 days old, he shattered Bryant’s record for getting to the milestone fastest, as Bryant was 34 years and 104 days old when he hit the mark in 2012. Even accounting for James’s status as a prep-to-pro player, allowing him to join the league at an age three to four years younger than that of all the players on the list besides Bryant, James did it in the fourth-fewest games, trailing only Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan and Chamberlain.
LeBron James LeBron James is youngest ever to join NBA's exclusive 30,000-point club Cavaliers star is only seventh NBA player to reach mark
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds record with 38,387 points LeBron James celebrates after scoring his 30,000th career point. Photograph: Soobum Im/USA Today Sports
LeBron James has joined the NBA’s 30,000-point club.
James became the seventh player with 30,000 career points when he hit a jumper with one second left in the first quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
NBA (@NBA) The basket to lift #LeBronJames into a club of ONE, becoming the first player to 30,000 points, 7,000 rebounds, and 7,000 assists!#ThisIsWhyWePlay #PhantomCam pic.twitter.com/xT7GvJplHV
James was recognized by the arena before the second quarter and got a standing ovation from Spurs fans. James patted his head and said “thank you so much.”
James needed seven points on Tuesday to get there. He missed his first two midrange jumpers before making two driving layups and a 20-footer. He hit the milestone jumper over Danny Green from 19 feet out.
The 33-year-old James joined 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) on the list.
At 33 years and 24 days, James is the youngest to reach the mark. Bryant was 34 years and 104 days when he got there. The 14-time All-Star has averaged 27.1 points since breaking into the league as an 18-year-old in 2003.
James’s achievement comes at a difficult time for the Cavaliers, with the team enduring a terrible run of form. They held an emotional pre-practice meeting on Monday in hopes of clearing the air.
“We aired any grievances we had and we’re going to move forward,” said center Kevin Love, who is believed to have been the target of some of his team-mates’ ire after he left a game with an illness. “Hopefully we’ll be better for it, we have been in the past.”
The Cavaliers lost Tuesday’s game against the Spurs 114-102. James finished with 28 points.
Morry Gash/Associated Press
LeBron James became the seventh player in NBA history to join the 30,000-point club when he hit a two-point jumper from the left wing in the first quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers' showdown against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
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The only other players who have eclipsed 30,000 points are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki.
"I'm joining elite company," James said, according to the Associated Press' Tom Withers. "When I walk into the 30,000-point club, they're going to look at me like, 'What are you doing here?' I ain't supposed to be there."
Nowitzki, though, was quick to welcome James to the fraternity:
LeBron (33 years, 24 days) also took the torch from Bryant (34 years, 104 days) as the youngest player in league history to hit 30K.
Bryant also took to Twitter to congratulate James:
James' teammates Kevin Love and Dwyane Wade also gave the Cavaliers star props for his achievement:
"It's not up there in the goals I set out for myself to be in this league," James said, per Withers. "I definitely looked at the list and saw the list and seen of all the guys that have played in this league, and the number of guys that have played in this league, it's definitely a select few. It's a select company. So it's special in that right."
James' next order of business will be passing the 39-year-old Nowitzki for sixth on the all-time scoring list.
That achievement may not come this season since the midway point has passed and Nowitzki is closing in on 31,000 points, but the torrid pace James has stayed on through his 15th season suggests he will fly past the German sharpshooter with ease.
Once Nowitzki is in the rearview mirror, James will set his sights on leapfrogging Chamberlain, who's perched in the No. 5 spot with 31,419 points.
Tony Dejak/Associated Press
Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James was tight-lipped Tuesday regarding a team meeting that reportedly occurred prior to Monday's practice.
When asked about the meeting, James would only say, "I don't want to talk about it," according to Tom Withers of the Associated Press.
ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday the meeting was "loud and intense" and that multiple players questioned the authenticity of an illness that caused Kevin Love to leave Saturday's 148-124 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wojnarowski added that things calmed when Love spoke and the Cavaliers were "largely accepting" of his explanation, which could help a team that has been floundering as of late.
Over their past 14 games, the Cavs are 4-10 with three of those wins over Eastern Conference cellar-dwellers in the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls.
Cleveland is a disappointing 27-18, which is good for third in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers are six games behind the Boston Celtics for first place in the conference and four back of the second-place Toronto Raptors.
They also lead the fourth-place Miami Heat by just one game and the fifth-place Washington Wizards by two.
While the Cavs have reached the NBA Finals in three straight seasons, their roster construction has come under fire in the wake of trading Kyrie Irving to the Celtics during the offseason.
All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas went to Cleveland in the deal, but the Cavaliers are only 3-4 in the seven games he has played since returning from a hip injury.
Although the Cavs are fifth in scoring with 109.7 points per game, they are allowing 109.5 points per game, which ranks 26th in the NBA.
Following Saturday's throttling at the hands of OKC, LeBron and the Cavaliers will look to get back on track in a road clash with the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
