LeBron James may be the most famous current player in the National Basketball League, but he is not a player who has reached the milestone of scoring 30,000 points.
However, that didn’t stop him from sending out an Instgram post congratulating himself on reaching the mark, anyway. Nor did it stop him from taking guff from nearly everyone for jumping the gun.
James posted an instagram post featuring a large photo of a teenaged James in a high school basketball uniform and insisting that he wanted to be “one of the first” to congratulate himself on reaching the 30K mark, ESPN reported.
The Cleveland Cavaliers power forward is only seven points away from that momentous goal and will surely hit the mark in tonight’s game against San Antonio, but he is still shy of the achievement.
In his much-derided post, James continued breaking his arm to pat himself on the back saying, “Only a handful has reach/seen it too and while I know it’s never been a goal of yours from the beginning try(please try) to take a moment for yourself on how you’ve done it!”
Many were quick to point out that James was congratulating himself without having actually earning that record. One user, for instance, joked that James might find it hard to find someone “who loves you as much as LeBron loves LeBron.”
Another joked, “watch him put up five and not get it.”
Once he does hit the amazing number he will become the youngest player to ever reach 30,000 points. Only a handful of other players have reached the mark including Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and Dirk Nowitzki.
The legacy of Michael Jordan has been a constant cloud over James’ career, though, as debate constantly rages over whose career is better. The argument keeps going, perhaps forever, over who is the best NBA GOAT (greatest of all time).
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.