If you are ever looking to make NBA picks today then you are likely going to see the Los Angeles Lakers as one of the featured teams. The Lakers are one of the most storied franchises in the league, and they are always expected to be one of the best teams.
Los Angeles enters December in 2022 in a battle just to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, and it’s hard to see them playing their way out of that spot as the year moves along. The Lakers just don’t seem to have enough talent, even though they still might have the best player in the NBA on their side.
It’s hard to put into words just how special LeBron James has been in his career, but looking at his statistics is the best way to show his dominance. LeBron just recently passed Magic Johnson for career assists, and that should immediately show just how great he has been throughout his NBA career.
During a game to begin the month of December, LeBron dished out an assist to move past Magic Johnson and into sixth place in that category. Doing it in a Lakers uniform makes the moment even more special for LeBron, but it’s even more impressive to get it done from a position that’s not the point guard.
James still has plenty of work to do if he is going to end up as the all-time assist leader in the NBA, as the title belongs to John Stockton of the Utah Jazz. Stockton racked up 15,806 assists during his career, and he has gone down as one of the best point guards of all-time.
It’s unclear how many more years LeBron plans to play in the NBA, but he doesn’t appear anywhere close to retiring. Making a run at the number of assists from Stockton seems unlikely, but he could easily pass up a number of other players ahead of him.
The Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle to be competitive in the Western Conference in the NBA, but James has been doing all he can for the team. During his Lakers tenure, James has been able to rack up the assists by dishing the ball to Anthony Davis.
LeBron Closing in on Kareem
While LeBron just continues to climb up the leaderboard when it comes to career assists, he is really trying to become the all-time leading scorer in the NBA. This record appeared to be one that was going to go unbroken when Michael Jordan was unable to really challenge it, but LeBron has just been able to play for so long.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA with 38,387 points, and that was a record that seemed impossible to challenge. For most NBA players, that is impossible to achieve, but LeBron James is not a normal player.
Entering the month of December, James was within 1,000 points of the record, and he is closing in fast. He could ultimately pass the Hall of Fame center this year, but he is definitely going to get the job done at some point.
Michael Jordan would have been on a pace to become the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, but his retirement from the NBA kept him from getting past Kareem.
Records Are Meant to Be Broken
There are some leagues that don’t celebrate all-time records very well, but that is not the case in the NBA. This league does a terrific job of honoring and celebrating the legends, but they also promote players that are getting ready to break new records.
The NBA just recently celebrated the 75th anniversary, and the league honored the best 75 players of all time. There are so many great players in the league, and it seems like some of the most impressive records fall every year.