LeBron James gives Russell Westbrook flowers with 2 emojis after climbing the assist chart

Sacramento Kings rush hour Russell Westbrook hit a major milestone Saturday night in his 18th NBA season, surpassing Magic Johnson on the league’s all-time assists list.

The turning point came during Sacramento’s 113–107 home win over the Dallas Mavericks at Golden 1 Center, a game in which Westbrook had 21 points, nine assists and five rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting. His second assist in the first quarter was 10,142. in his career, allowing him to pass Johnson (10,141) for seventh place on the league’s all-time assists list. By the end of the game, his total had risen to 10,149 assists.

With that accomplishment, the 37-year-old became one of only eight players in league history to surpass 10,000 career assists. The only players ahead of him now are John Stockton (15,806), Chris Paul (12,552), Jason Kidd (12,091), LeBron James (11,673), Steve Nash (10,335) and Mark Jackson (10,334). Both Nash and Jackson are under 200 assists in the lead, which makes for a top-five finish if Westbrook maintains his current pace.

The milestone did not go unnoticed across the league, and a former teammate was among those who noticed. Ahead of Sunday’s match between the Kings and Los Angeles LakersJames, with whom Westbrook shared the court during the 2021-22 season, responded to a fan’s post in which Westbrook labeled him an all-time great on X (formerly Twitter) by responding with fax and flower emojicelebrates Westbrook as one of the best playmakers in the NBA. The gesture resonated even more in light of their difficult run together, during which injuries and chemistry issues prevented them from progressing alongside Anthony Davis.

Westbrook himself reflected on the milestone after the game, calling it an honor to surpass Johnson and acknowledging the impact of one of the league’s all-time greats.

The Mavericks game also added another statistical accomplishment to his resume. Westbrook recorded one steal, becoming just the 14th player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career steals. He is only the second guard to combine at least 25,000 points with 2,000 steals, joining Michael Jordan. Overall, his career accomplishments include an MVP award, nine All-Star selections,
nine All-NBA honors, two scoring titles, three assists and a league record 207 triple-doubles.

In 31 games, Westbrook is averaging 14.6 points, 7.2 assists, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 29.3 minutes per game while shooting 43.1% from the field and 36.1% from three-point range. Although the Kings are struggling at 8-23 and sit in 14th place in the Western Conference, Westbrook has remained a bright spot.