While the Brooklyn Nets continue to rack up wins, James Harden is continuing his assault on the league's all-time scoring record. Not only did the perennial All-Star score 24 points to pace the Nets to a five-point victory over the Detroit Pistons Saturday night, but he passed Celtics legend Larry Bird for 34th place on the all-time scoring list, according to ESPN.
Larry Legend may have been able to score the rock with the best of them in his day, but The Beard has taken it to another level.
James Harden finished with 24 points vs. the Pistons and passed Larry Bird to sit at No. 34 on the all-time scoring list š pic.twitter.com/3CdEt1CAKp
ā NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 14, 2021
In overtaking Bird on the scoring list by a single pointā21,792 points for Harden vs. 21,791 for Birdāthe Nets guard has moved into position to possibly catch Gary Payton and Clyde Drexler before the end of the calendar year.
As it stands, Harden is a mere 21 points away from the former Sonics point guard and just under 400 points away from Drexler. Should Harden continue his worried scoring paceāregularly eclipsing 2,000 points per season in seven of the last nine yearsāthen The Beard would likely pass Drexler by the beginning of next season.
While the move's exact timing may be unclear, however, what is clear is how impressive Harden's climb up the leaderboard has been. Not only did Harden pass Bird's scoring mark, but the guard accomplished the feat 32 games faster than the Celtics Hall of Famer did.
Even more significant is the fact that Harden is on a pace that is over 300 games faster than that of Drexler and nearly 500 games faster than Payton.
For a player who entered the league as a sixth-man prototype, James Harden's transformation into an all-time great scorer is one of the more surprising developments of the NBA's last decade.
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