Thursday night was a historic one for LeBron James, he scored an insane 41 point triple double, he helped his team claw back from being down by 26 points, and he passed up Kobe Bryant on the postseason scoring list. The Black Mamba's historic NBA career included 15 playoff runs in 20 seasons, and in that 15 playoff runs he finished them holding an NBA championship trophy on five occasions.
Meanwhile, currently in his 14th full season in the league, LeBron has ventured into the playoffs for the 12th time. In his first 11 playoff runs, he has held the coveted trophy three times and will be looking to add to that number shortly.
One thing that the King holds over the Mamba during his title runs is the fact he has finished with the Finals MVP on all three occasions, compared to Kobe who won the Finals MVP award twice out of his five runs. Either way, both players will go down in history as two of all time greats, there's no arguing that.
LeBron James moves up the scoring list, passes Kobe
During the Cleveland Cavaliers historic comeback win against the Indiana Pacers in game three, in the midst of all the drama and craziness, LeBron James moved past Kobe Bryant on the playoffs all time scoring list. King James came into the game needing just 12 points to pass the Laker legend who sat at 5,640 career playoff points. With an outstanding 41-point performance, LeBron moved past Kobe smoothly, going from 5,629 to 5,670 points, and moved past Kobe while playing 18 fewer playoff games.
This is truly a great accomplishment for LeBron James. It's amazing that he is still in his prime and will likely have many more playoff years left, and he is passing NBA greats like Bryant on these types of lists at this point. What's even crazier is that the King can end up first all time on this ranking during this year's playoffs.
Here's how the top 5 currently shapes up:
1. Michael Jordan (5,978)
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762)
3. LeBron James (5,670)
4. Kobe Bryant (5,640)
5. Shaquille O'Neal (5,250)
LeBron is most certainly on pace to pass Kareem and Michael before this year's playoff is over. That is if he does what most have predicted, and that's for the King to walk into the NBA Finals for a seventh straight year.
LeBron also passed Kobe on another list
In the same game, on the same night, at almost the same moment. LeBron James passed Kobe Bryant on the NBA playoffs all-time three-point field goals made a list. It was a huge night for the King from beyond the arc, connecting on 6 three pointers. His fourth one being the record-breaking one, it put him past Kobe (292) and into fourth place on the leaderboard.
LeBron, who has made 295 career triples in the playoffs now only trails Manu Ginobili (309), Reggie Miller (320) and Ray Allen (385) on the all-time list. This could be another crazy feat that the kid from Akron could end up climbing to the top of the list in, and it would be even crazier considering LeBron has never been known as a great shooter.
