LeBron James: 9k assists a result of wanting to help teammates score

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James talked about how rewarding it is to feed his teammates after reaching 9,000 NBA assists.

LeBron James added more statistical accolades to his already incredible resume of achievements on Sunday night as he became just the ninth player in NBA history to record over 9,000 career assists. He also became the first player in NBA history to have over 30,000 points, 9,000 assists, and 9,000 rebounds.

James is only 52 assists away from passing Isiah Thomas for eighth on the all-time assists leaderboard and James told reporters after Sunday’s win that it’s all a result of a philosophy instilled him from the very moment he picked up a basketball: that helping your teammates score is more rewarding than scoring on your own.

From Ben Golliver of the Washington Post

James has obviously been better than his teammates since he can remember, whether that’s at the youth level or even at the NBA level. This season, James has had to employ that philosophy more than ever this season as he’s been trusted to be the Lakers’ primary point guard.

While James will likely move into eighth place soon, catching seventh place may be more difficult as Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul currently has a 380 total assist lead over James in career assists.

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