There isn’t much for Philadelphia forward LeBron James to chase this season, at least from a statistical standpoint.
asserted
James → be → standpoint
He’s already the NBA’s career scoring leader.
asserted
He → ’ → ?
And he’s entering Year 24 of his career — another record, one he took sole possession of last year because nobody ever topped 22 seasons before he came along.
asserted
he → enter → seasons
“I have a lot of experience in this game, obviously,” James said.
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James → have → game
“So, I hope that I can bring that experience, bring that knowledge, bring the blueprint to guys that are trying to accomplish some things that they haven’t done in their career.”
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they → hope → career
So, why is he still playing?
asserted
he → play → ?
And what is he chasing?
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he → chase → what
A look at it all, by the numbers:
4, as in championships with four teams
James isn’t playing for money (he’s estimated to be a billionaire), isn’t playing for legacy (secured long ago), isn’t playing for records (has enough of those).
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he → play → those
He plays for rings.
asserted
He → play → rings
He’ll never catch Bill Russell’s 11 titles, would need two more crowns to tie Michael Jordan’s six, but James — if he wins one in Philly — would be the first player to be part of championship runs by four franchises.
asserted
he → catch → franchises
He’s already won with Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles.
asserted
He → win → Cleveland
Adding Philadelphia to the list would be quite the capper.
asserted
Adding → add → list
11, his new total of coaches
Nick Nurse will be the 11th coach of James’ career, excluding any interim coaches and from events like the Olympics and All-Star Games.
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Nurse → exclude → Olympics
James enters this season having gone up against 141 head coaches in his regular-season career, with four new names — Dallas’ Dusty May, Orlando’s Sean Sweeney, Portland’s Micah Nori and the Lakers’ JJ Redick — set to join that list.
2-pointers
James took Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s points title a few years ago.
uncertain
James → enter → title
He won’t be catching Abdul-Jabbar in 2-pointers; the gap there is more than 2,500 baskets.
asserted
gap → catch → pointers
But he could move up to No. 2 on the 2-pointers list this season.
uncertain
he → move → list
James enters the season with 13,325, or 118 behind No. 2 Karl Malone.
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James → enter → Malone
And with 302 attempts from 2-point range, James would pass Elvin Hayes for third on that list.
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James → pass → list
He likely won’t be catching Abdul-Jabbar or Malone in that department.
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He → catch → department
James is sixth on the 3-pointers list for now, and will probably stay right there this season.
asserted
James → stay → list
He could actually fall one spot to No. 4 on the 3s attempted list.
uncertain
He → fall → list
Portland’s Damian Lillard is back this season and trails James by only nine 3s tried for that third-place spot.
asserted
Lillard → trail → spot
It’s reasonable to think that Lillard will try more 3s than James will this season.
asserted
James → ’ → 3s
It’s possible — possible — that if James plays both of his contracted seasons in Philadelphia, he may catch Malone for the most free throws attempted in NBA regular-season history.
uncertain
he → ’ → history
Malone has 13,188; James is at 12,051.
asserted
James → have → 12,051
James is No. 2 in free throws made behind Malone and would need to make 905 more to tie for the top spot there.
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James → make → spot
That wouldn’t seem likely.
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That → seem → ?
James enters this season No. 4 on the assist list with 12,016, or just 75 away from No. 3 Jason Kidd.
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James → enter → .
The question then becomes if James can reach the No. 2 spot, currently held by Chris Paul with 12,552.
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James → become → 12,552
Forget moving to No. 1 here; John Stockton had 15,806 assists, and James won’t be anywhere near that when he retires.
asserted
he → forget → that
One of the awards that James never won was defensive player of the year, despite many of his teams and coaches lobbying hard for that recognition over the years.
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many → win → years
History will say they had a case.
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they → say → case
There’s more to defense than just steals, obviously, but James enters this season within reach of No. 5 Gary Payton (28 steals away) and No. 4 Michael Jordan (97 steals away) on the NBA’s list in that category.
asserted
James → ’ → category
That would likely be his ceiling: Stockton, Paul and Kidd hold down the top three spots on the steals list, probably all out of James’ reach even if he plays two more seasons.
asserted
he → hold → seasons
A weird quirk to all that: James has never finished any of his 1,622 NBA games with exactly 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
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James → finish → points
He’s had 82 games with exactly 27 points, 232 games with exactly seven rebounds and 222 games with exactly seven assists.
asserted
He → have → assists
But he’s never put up those exact numbers in all three categories in the same game.
asserted
he → put → game
The Aporia
