Although the Los Angeles Lakers are suffering through a miserable season, LeBron James has been having himself a tremendous year.
Coming into Saturday’s game versus the Washington Wizards, he was averaging 29.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. He has a real shot at winning the scoring title, which would be quite an accomplishment for a 37-year-old with tons of mileage like him.
Less than a week ago, he became the first player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points, 10,000 assists and 10,000 rebounds. Now, against the Wizards, James has surpassed Karl Malone to move into second place on the NBA’s career scoring list.
"I do it for my family, my friends, and my hometown…" @KingJames on what passing Karl Malone for second place in the all-time scoring list means to him. pic.twitter.com/dbgF76nA8H
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 20, 2022
He did so by scoring 38 points on 16-of-29 shooting from the field, to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists.
The big moment came with 5;20 remaining in the second quarter when he made a layup to move past the Mailman.
Unfortunately, James’ latest accomplishment was shaded by the fact that his team fell apart in the final 14 minutes or so and fell to the Wizards, 127-119.
The sad part of James’ remarkable individual season is that plenty of people may not appreciate it given how terrible the Lakers have been as a team.