The NBA 2022-23 season is all set to kick off this month and there is plenty of historic stats milestones to keep track of each player during the season.
LeBron James
Eight players have played in 20 NBA seasons altogether, including James, who has participated in at least one regular-season game in 19 of those seasons. James has a lifetime steal average of 1.6 and has never had a season with fewer than 1.1 steals on average. He has 2,136 career steals, which ranks him 10th all-time, and by the end of the season, he could easily be No. 8 in that statistic.
James’ skill has endured over the course of his career, and his growth as a 3-point shooter has undoubtedly contributed to the extension of his career. In his career, he has made 2,140 3-pointers, ranking him 11th all-time. He is expected to surpass the top 10 in that category in 2022–2023.
James is fifth all-time in triple-doubles (105). For fourth place, he must surpass Jason Kidd (107) with three triple-doubles. Over the last six seasons, James has played an average of 60 games.
Chris Paul
Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns was the first player in NBA history to have 20,000 career points and 10,000 total assists early in the 2021–22 campaign. A little over a month later, he overtook former NBA MVP Steve Nash to take over the third spot on the list of all-time assists in the NBA. He has 10,977 assists at the end of 2021–22, putting him on the verge of making more records in 2022–23.
Paul is still a sensation in the game, as seen by his performance and his statistics. He needs 62 steals this season to surpass Michael Jordan for third place on the all-time list. Paul has had at least 110 steals in 14 of his 17 seasons and at least 120 steals in 10 of those seasons.
Kevin Durant
One of the NBA’s most consistent scorers during his career has been forward Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. He essentially already has a slot in the top 20 scorers of all time as he begins the 16th season.
Durant averaged 1,664 points a season over the previous six seasons and scored at least 1,884 points in six different seasons, the most recent of which was in 2018–19. He scored 1,643 points last season. Durant has 25,526 career points, which puts him in 21st place. He needs 88 points to pass Hall of Famer Alex English and take over the No. 20 spot.
Stephen Curry
The NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made, Stephen Curry is already the Warriors’ all-time leader in scoring, 3-pointers attempted and made, steals, and assists. He can overtake Wilt Chamberlain this season and surpass him as the Warriors’ all-time leading scorer in field goals. Curry has a lifetime total of 6,875 field goals made for Golden State, which is 342 fewer than Chamberlain’s record (7,216). Curry has made at least 500 field goals in 10 of his 13 seasons, and the two seasons he has failed to reach that mark (2019–20 and ’11–12) were due to injury. Curry has 3,197 free throws made on 3,520 attempts and needs 149 makes and 362 more attempts to surpass Chris Mullin.
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