Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James made some more NBA history on Friday night. During the fourth quarter of Los Angeles’ 133-129 victory over the host Milwaukee Bucks, James passed Lakers legend Magic Johnson to move into sixth place on the NBA’s all-time assists list. James had 11 assists on the night, and now has a career count of 10,144. Johnson’s compiled 10,141 over the course of his career.
James now sits less than 200 assists away from Mark Jackson, who has 10,334 assists and Steve Nash (10,335). If James remains healthy, he’ll likely pass both during the current campaign end the season in fourth behind the still-active Chris Paul (11,071), Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd (12,091) and Utah Jazz great John Stockton (15,806).
You can see the pass that propelled James past Johnson in the record books below:
Johnson is widely considered to be one of the greatest passers to ever play the game, and James belongs in that conversation. He led the league in assists during the 2019-20 season, and he has finished in the top 10 on several other occasions. Over his career, he’s never averaged fewer than 5.9 assists per game. He also happens to be an elite scorer, but that shouldn’t overshadow just how dominant James has been as a passer since he entered the league in 2003.
James takes immense pride in his passing, and he’s a student of the game, so the magnitude of the moment — passing Johnson in the same uniform the Hall-of-Famer used to wear — isn’t lost on him.
“To know that I’m in the conversation or about to get to a point that I’m breaking a record that [Magic] set for this franchise — and I’m not comparing myself to Magic with this franchise, what he did, sheesh. Him, [James] Worthy, Kobe [Bryant], Shaq [O’Neal], those guys are synonymous with this franchise,” James said prior to the game against the Bucks, via ESPN. “But it’s just pretty cool, always, when I’m able to see my name with some of the greats that have played this game,”
While he continues to climb the assists list, James also draws closer to passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. James needs fewer than 1,000 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar, so there’s a chance that he’s able to accomplish that this season as well.