The NBA All-Star Break serves as the unofficial midpoint of the season, though in reality, the season is now roughly two-thirds complete. Regardless, this break allows a time to look ahead to what’s on tap, potentially, over the last 30 or so games of the regular season, as well as the postseason. Several players and coaches entered the year with milestones and records on their horizon, and here are some of the most fascinating to keep an eye on.
LeBron James
As the league’s all-time leading scorer, James technically breaks his own scoring record with every point. However, the four-time MVP has a big round number ahead of him: 50,000. He’s just 197 points away from becoming the first player ever with 50,000 combined points in the regular season and playoffs. That’s a number that James should easily reach, maybe even before February is over, while another may be more of a challenge. James has 28 career postseason triple-doubles, and notching three more would surpass Magic Johnson (30) for the most in NBA playoff history.
Russell Westbrook
Speaking of triple-doubles, the all-time leader in the regular season stat, Westbrook, has a different statistic in mind. Westbrook is 225 assists away from becoming the seventh player in league history with 10,000 career assists. Westbrook would have to play every Nuggets game over the rest of the season and average 8.3 assists to get there, which may be a bit of a stretch. However, he’ll need to average only half as many dimes to top Oscar Robertson (9,887) for eighth place on the list.
Kevin Durant
Earlier this season, Durant reached the 1,200 career blocks threshold, and with a strong (and healthy) remainder of the season, he could also reach the 1,200 steals mark. Whether he gets there this year or next—and whether it comes in Phoenix or elsewhere—Durant would become just
the 11th player in NBA history with 1,200 steals and blocks, and only Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) would have more points among those 11 than Durant, who recently joined the
30,000-point club.
Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich
It’s not just players with history on the horizon, as Bucks’ coach Doc Rivers will pass 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson in regular-season victories with
just 13 more wins. Meanwhile, Popovich has been sidelined most of the year after suffering a stroke, but he still gets credit for every Spurs win under interim coach Mitch Johnson. The same would go if the Spurs qualify for the postseason, where Pop is just two victories shy of passing Pat Riley (171) for the second-most playoff wins by a coach, which would trail only Jackson’s 229.
James Harden
The Beard’s scoring prowess has declined since his Houston days, but he could surpass a couple of Rockets legends in the next few weeks in career points. Harden needs 333 points to leapfrog Elvin Hayes for 12
th on the scoring list and 429 points to topple Moses Malone for 11
th place. Interestingly, the last player that Harden passed on the scoring list is the greatest Rocket of them all, Hakeem Olajuwon, as Houston all-time greats hold the 11
th, 12
th, 13
th and 14
th places on the points list.
Chris Paul
Of every milestone on this list, this one is all but guaranteed to be the first to happen, and it’s Chris Paul moving up the all-time steals list. That’s because CP3 is currently tied for second place, alongside Jason Kidd, with 2,684 steals, so his next steal would give him sole possession of being runner-up to John Stockton (3,265). You can all but rule out Paul catching Stockton as he’d need 582 more steals, which would mean the 39-year-old Paul would have to maintain his current steals rate until he was 45 years old.
Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan
It’s a bit fitting that there are 25 players in NBA history with 25,000 career points. However, that club is poised to become a club of 27. Curry is just 254 points away from the magical milestone, while DeRozan—who’s scored more points than Curry, LeBron James or Kevin Durant over the last 10 seasons—is just 323 points away. Both will likely reach the mark sometime in March, unlike poor Patrick Ewing who finished his career just 185 points shy of 25,000.
Boston Celtics
This isn’t a milestone but rather an NBA record that no one anticipated when the season began, but the Celtics’ volume and efficiency all season has it in sight. It’s the single-season record for made three-pointers by a team, currently held by the 2022-23 Warriors (1,363). Those Warriors averaged 16.6 made three-pointers per game, while these Celtics are converting 17.7. Boston is on pace to shatter the record by nearly 90 made 3Ps. However, the
top five teams in terms of made three-pointers per game in NBA history have all played within the last five seasons, so this record may be short-lived.
