Mama, there went that man!
LeBron James moved from sixth place to fourth place on the all-time assists list, passing both Mark Jackson and Steve Nash. He entered the game with 10,327 assists, seven behind Jackson and eight behind Nash.
James tied Jackson at the former Knicks point guard’s old stomping grounds, Madison Square Garden, when he found Thomas Bryant under the basket for a short hook shot. It’s not clear whether Bryant’s man had his hand down, which would of course mean that the man was down.
He passed Jackson and tied Nash by finding Troy Brown, Jr. open for a three-pointer in the corner.
Then James passed Nash by hitting Bryant again for a running dunk.
James is now fourth in the NBA in career assists and second in career points. He’s within 100 points of all-time leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With seven games to go before the one-week All-Star break, it seems inevitable he’ll pass Abdul-Jabbar before then, perhaps as early as next Tuesday, Feb. 7, when the Lakers return home from their five-game road trip.
For the sake of completeness, we’ll add that James is 10th all-time in steals, 35th in rebounds, fifth in triple-doubles (just one behind Jason Kidd after Tuesday night!) and tied for 27th for most championship rings.
