The 20,000 point club in the NBA has a pretty exclusive membership. As a matter of fact, only 12 guys in the history of the league have ever qualified to join. It is not an easy task by any means. Every young basketball player just coming into the pros holds the members of the 20K Club in awesome reverence.
On Wednesday evening, in Oakland, California, James and the Miami Heat did battle with the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. LeBron needed only 18 points to top the 20,000 point mark and only 2 assists to reach 5,000 assists. As everyone knew he would, James broke both barriers scoring 25 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists.
James and Wade just overwhelmed the Warriors from the start. Both Wade and Mario Chalmers had 15 points each and Golden State never stood a chance.
James said later that he knew before the shot that he was only a point away. He had already made 11 of 20 shots from the floor when he pulled up in the lane to make an off balance jumper with 2:45 left in the half which put him over the 20K mark.
The Heat were defiantly having a good time that evening and the shots just fell their way. LeBron said, “The best part about it is I was in a rhythm, too, so it wasn’t one of those forced shots”.
James now becomes the youngest player to reach the 20,000 point mark. Kobe Bryant used to be the youngest but LeBron takes over that spot by more than a year. He was 28 years & 17 days old that night.
“He probably would’ve had it sooner if he didn’t decide to come down here to South Beach,” Wade said. “It’s just a testament to him as a player.”
LeBron was also the youngest player to win Rookie of the Year, to reach various point records and to win the MVP honors at an NBA All Star Game.
Additionally, James has three MVPs, one Finals MVP, two Olympic Gold Medals, one scoring title and three conference championships.
Only 13 guys in the history of the NBA have gone over the 20K mark, they are,
Michael Jordan, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Clyde Drexler, Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Wilt Chamberlain and John Havlicek. Pretty heady company!
