Just days after LeBron James surpassed Allen Iverson in career points, the Cleveland superstar broke Scottie Pippen's record for career assists.
Sports Illustrated reported that James became the NBA's leader in career assists during the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the Detroit Pistons on February 25. He found Kevin Love open at the three-point mark in the second quarter and saw the opportunity to set a record 6,136 career assists. The record was previously held by John Havlicek before Scottie Pippen.
The Cavs won the game on Tuesday 102-93 with LeBron finishing with 19 points and 11 assists. He ended the game with a total of 6,142 career assists and currently ranks No. 27 all time. Jerry West is at No. 26 with 6,238. LeBron is widely known to be good at dishing the ball as much as his potency in scoring. NBA.com reported that James holds the single-season record for assists by a forward with 651 during the 2009-2010 NBA season.
ESPN reported that James was happier about breaking Pippen's record, compared to breaking Iverson's scoring record on February 22.
James said, "It means way more than what I did passing Allen Iverson on Sunday. I've always took a lot of pride and I get more of a rush seeing my teammates succeed more than myself. And that's what an assist is all about. I was taught the game the right way and seeing my teammates succeed has always been something that I've cared about more than anything and that's what it's all about."
He added in the same ESPN report how he was fond of watching the Chicago Bulls growing up, "When I started to shape my game, I kind of knew that that point forward was something that was going to be my trademark," James said. "Obviously I looked up to Michael Jordan, that's someone that gave me a lot of inspiration, but as a kid I never thought that I could get to that point. You know, Jordan just felt so surreal. Pippen and Anfernee Hardaway and Allen Iverson was those guys that I kind of really, really thought that I could be. Because MJ just felt like you could never catch him as a kid. I always just felt like he was so far in the distance."
James also celebrated his success in Instagram as he posted a photo highlighting his achievement which he captioned, "Once again I'm at a lost for words really! For me this goes right at the top with winning a championship because I've always love seeing the success of my teammates!! Seeing my teammates score always meant more to me than me scoring! I can't do anything without those guys every single night. Their hardwork, dedication, professionalism, etc, etc has put me in the position I am today and this is my way of saying THANK YOU to every teammate I've ever had(past, present, future) #StriveForGreatness."
Cleveland.com wrote that Cavs coach David Blatt was equally happy about James' new achievement. Blatt said that James is only 30 years old and can accomplish more. He admires how James' level of greatness inspires his teammates to be great as well.