LeBron James has been creating open shots for his teammates ever since he set foot on an NBA court 17 seasons ago. Combined with this ability to dominate games as a scorer, LeBron’s propensity for dropping dimes is one of the factors that separates him among the handful of truly elite players to ever play this game. On Thursday, he further solidified his passing greatness by moving up another rung on the NBA’s all-time assists list.
James dished out 11 assists to complete a 21-point, 12-rebound triple-double during the Los Angeles Lakers 111-104 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. In doing so, he moved past Gary “The Glove” Payton who LeBron trailed by eight dimes heading into to the Milwaukee game.
LeBron now has 8,970 assists for his career which is good for ninth on the NBA’s all-time list according to Basketball Reference. Payton slides to 10th on the list with 8,966. James is currently 91 assists behind Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas who occupies the No. 8 spot with 9,061. The King should catch Thomas this season, but from there he’ll trail Chris Paul in the seventh spot by roughly 300 dimes and counting.
After dishing out 11 assists during the loss to the Bucks, James continues to lead the NBA in that play-making metric by averaging 10.6 helpers per contest. LeBron and the Lakers are back home on Sunday for a matchup with the Denver Nuggets prior to their Christmas Day showdown with the Los Angeles Clippers.
