PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James laughed as he recalled how, early in his first 76ers training camp, a couple of his passes clocked VJ Edgecombe in the head.
The lesson from James was this: When he has the ball, his teammates should always finish their routes and keep their heads up.
LeBron is watching.
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“I told him, even when you don’t think you’re open, you’re going to be open,” James said.
Edgecombe was open and alert late in the fourth quarter Sunday.
James found him easily for his 11th assist of the game and the 12,092nd of his career, moving him past Jason Kidd for third place on the NBA’s career list. James, who turns 42 next month, finished with those 11 assists and he added 15 points and six rebounds to lead Philadelphia past the Indiana Pacers 131-124.
Already the NBA’s career leading scorer, James had worked his way near the top, primarily as a forward, of a list top heavy with traditional point guards.
The question then becomes whether James can reach the No. 2 spot, currently held by Chris Paul with 12,552. Forget moving to No. 1 here; John Stockton had 15,806 assists, and James won’t be anywhere near that when he retires.
“It’s super humbling,” James said. “It’s something that I didn’t obviously foresee in my career, but I knew assists meant a lot to me. Just the movement of the ball, being able to find my teammates and put the ball on time and target. Also just being linked to some of the greats to ever play the game and a dear friend of mine, J-Kidd.”
James is the NBA leader in games, minutes, field goals and field goals attempted, too. And he’s in Year 24 of his career - another record, one he took sole possession of last year because nobody ever topped 22 seasons before he came along.
“I just tell my guys, always pay attention to me when I have the ball, because I always see plays develop before they happen,” James said.
Against Indiana, James continued a habit he developed early in his first season with the Sixers: choosing the right moment to take control of a game.
This one came in the third quarter, right after Sixers fans went wild when seldom-used 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall checked into the game. James immediately went to work picking apart the Pacers and scored eight straight points to give Philadelphia an 82-73 lead.
Fall helped James during that pivotal third-quarter stretch, grabbing an offensive rebound that led to a possession in which James sank two free throws. James then added a near-uncontested driving layup because of a perfect screen from Fall. James added a 20-footer and a dunk during the run.
James picked up the pace when the Sixers needed him most, with Joel Embiid sitting out for a rest day during the team’s first of back-to-back games. A two-time NBA scoring champion, Embiid should return to the lineup Monday at Brooklyn while James - another veteran who generally does not play in back-to-back games - seemed poised to take his turn sitting out against the Nets.
That woeful Nets will gladly take James’ absence.
Jaylen Brown scored 31 points and Tyrese Maxey added 27 for the Sixers.
Nick Nurse is the 11th coach of James’ career, not counting interim coaches or those who coached him in events such as the Olympics and All-Star Games. Having coached against James with both Toronto and Philadelphia, Nurse never truly seemed to have the 22-time All-Star figured out.
Nurse has been wildly impressed in his first season getting a daily look at James’ approach to the game.
“He’s got the vision and the awareness,” Nurse said. “He’s got the size to see. I think he’s got some anticipation of just the half-second before the play happens, he knows how the defense is moving. And he throws crisp passes. Some of those are cooking out to the corner 3 guys.”
James long ago mastered all aspects of the game, and that mental edge or sixth sense for the game has never been as important as it is now after he’s logged more than 61,000 regular-season minutes.
“He’s a walking NBA basketball AI machine,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s so smart. Twenty-four years? I don’t think we’ll ever see this again.”
The Sixers certainly hope to see more of James’ smarts and scoring - and of course, assists - as he keeps adding more milestones to his career, all while chasing that fifth NBA championship.
Just a reminder for the Sixers, though. Heads up!
“You need to always be prepared to get the basketball when he has it,” Maxey said.
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