LeBron James puts up staggering playoff numbers

LeBron James passed Michael Jordan as the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader.

James did it Thursday, needing more games to rack up his 5,995 career playoff points, 212 to Jordan's 179. But James has been a more efficient postseason scorer than Jordan, needing fewer shots (4,379 to 4,497), albeit while hitting a lower percentage (.482-.487) and taking more three-pointers (971-446). James has higher per-game numbers in rebounds (8.8-6.4), assists (6.8-5.7) and blocks (1.0-0.9).

Jordan remains the NBA's per-game postseason scoring leader, at 33.45, while James' mark of 28.25 places him fifth, behind Allen Iverson (29.73), Jerry West (29.13) and Kevin Durant (28.44).

"I wear the number because of Mike," James said. "I think I fell in love with the game because of Mike, just because of what he was able to accomplish. When you're watching Michael Jordan it's almost like a god. So I didn't think I could be Mike."

The big thing is that, as far as his total in points goes, James has a chance to put some major distance between himself and everyone else for the foreseeable future. At age 32, he's showing few signs of slowing down.

As it is, the closest active players to him — Tony Parker (4,012), Dwyane Wade (3,871), Dirk Nowitzki (3,663) and Manu Ginobili (3,009) — are all nearing the end of their careers, and they aren't all that close to begin with. The next active player, Durant, is far behind James at 2,872 playoff points, although the Golden State forward is also four years younger.

James also ranks in the top five in these postseason categories:

2. Michael Jordan2,188

3. LeBron James2,116

4. Shaquille O'Neal2,041

5. Kobe Bryant2,014

1. Kobe Bryant4,499

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar4,422

4. LeBron James4,379

5. Tim Duncan3,939

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar2,356

2. Shaquille O'Neal2,041

4. Tim Duncan1,970

5. LeBron James1,797

1. Ray Allen385

2. Reggie Miller320

3. LeBron James319

5. Stephen Curry295

1. LeBron James971

2. Ray Allen959

3. Manu Ginobili887

4. Kobe Bryant882

1. Michael Jordan1,463

2. LeBron James1,444

3. Kobe Bryant1,320

4. Karl Malone1,269

5. Tim Duncan1,217

2. LeBron James1,941

3. Tim Duncan1,766

3. Michael Jordan1,766

5. Karl Malone1,725

1. Tim Duncan2,081

3. Karl Malone1,560

4. LeBron James1,536

5. Larry Bird1,323

1. Magic Johnson2,346

2. John Stockton1,839

4. Jason Kidd1,263

5. Tony Parker1,137

1. Scottie Pippen395

2. LeBron James382

3. Michael Jordan376

5. John Stockton338

1. Kobe Bryant2,485

2. Michael Jordan2,309

3. LeBron James2,263

4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar2,066

1. LeBron James751

2. Magic Johnson696

3. Shaquille O'Neal649

4. Kobe Bryant647

5. Tim Duncan633