During the L.A. Lakers' 114-106 overtime win versus the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, Kobe Bryant joined the exclusive 25,000 point/5000 rebound/5000 assist club. Unfortunately, every media account of this accomplishment that I have seen disregarded the fact that Julius Erving accomplished this feat; Erving played five of his 16 professional seasons in the ABA and it is a travesty that the NBA still refuses to admit that ABA Numbers Should Also Count, a point that I have been emphasizing for the better part of a decade (and it sure would be nice if some media members who have been fortunate enough to be blessed with a larger platform than I currently have would use that influence constructively to make that point as well).
Here is the real membership list of the 25,000/5000/5000 Club (in order of career points scored):
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387 points/17,440 rebounds/5660 assists (1560 games played)
Karl Malone: 36,928 points/14,968 rebounds/5248 assists (1476 games played)
Michael Jordan: 32,292 points/6672 rebounds/5633 assists (1072 games played)
Julius Erving: 30,026 points/10,525 rebounds/5176 assists (1243 games played)
Kobe Bryant: 27,061 points/5663 rebounds/5015 assists (1071 games played)
Oscar Robertson: 26,710 points/7804 rebounds/9887 assists (1040 games played)
John Havlicek: 26,395 points/8007 rebounds/6114 assists (1270 games played)
Jerry West: 25,192 points/5366 rebounds/6238 assists (932 games played)
Julius Erving Ignored as Kobe Bryant Joins Exclusive 25,000/5000/5000 Club
