During the 4th quarter of the Cavs-Bulls game on Thursday night, LeBron James scored a free throw and passed Shaquille O'Neal on the NBA's all time scoring List. Shaq currently sits at 8th place on the list with 28,596 career points after LeBron took the number 7 spot from him. LeBron has 28,599 career regular season points and counting. LeBron now looks ahead to the next player in line, that being an active player, Dirk Nowitzki. The German power forward sits 6th place on the rankings with 30,181 points, and counting. It may be a challenge for the King to pass Dirk on the all time list while Nowitzki is still playing and getting buckets, but according to statistics, it should happen next season.
But the most recent accomplishment of LeBron, the passing of Shaq on the all time scoring list has gotten people talking. Former teammates, and friends LeBron and Shaq hold a lot of respect for eachother. The Diesel felt the need to show King James that respect on social media.
Shaq comments on LeBron passing him on the scoring list
Shaquille O'Neal took to his Facebook page to send his congratulatory message to his former teammate LeBron James, saying:
"Congrats to my lil bro LeBron James on passing me up to number 7 on the NBA All time scoring list. #thisiswhyweplay #congratulation #keepupthegoodwork"
LeBron and Shaq have always considered eachother as brothers. Shaq was a veteran when he joined LeBron in Cleveland in the 2009-10 season, and helped to mentor a 25 year old LeBron James.
The Cavs had high expectations that season, but were unable to live up to them, making fans around the basketball world wonder how good the Cavs could've been with a prime Shaq and James.
LeBron talks about Shaq after the Cavs-Bulls game
After the Bulls defeated the Cavs on Thursday night, LeBron James talked about passing Shaquille O'Neal on the all time scoring list.
LeBron said:
"Shaq is an all time great, one of the greatest to ever play this game... lots of respect... he's like a big brother of mine"
LeBron was in a bad mood after the Cavs suffered their third straight loss, but the respect he holds for Shaq outweighs the excitement about moving up the scoring list. He added: "extremely excited to see him get his statue outside of staples center, but I couldn't care less about me passing him, means absolutely nothing".
