LeBron James shy of 30K points but not short on confidence

ByABC News
January 23, 2018, 12:45 PM

— -- LeBron James, never short on confidence,?congratulated himself for reaching 30,000 career NBA points on Tuesday before he actually reached the milestone.

A post on James' Instagram account that included a photo of a young James in his high school uniform starts: "Wanna be one of the first to Congratulate you on this accomplishment/achievement tonight that you'll reach!"

Because he's seven points shy of the mark -- and felt compelled to congratulate himself in the first place -- James received some blowback for the move ahead of Tuesday night's game between the? Cleveland Cavaliers?and? San Antonio Spurs.

One user responded to his post: "Find someone who loves you as much as LeBron loves LeBron."

The last time James failed to score seven points in a regular-season game was Dec. 29, 2004, during his second season in the league. He's scored at least 10 in 836 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in NBA history. He's averaging 26.8 points per game.

James added: "Only a handful has reach/seen it too and while I know it's never been a goal of yours from the beginning try(please try) to take a moment for yourself on how you've done it!"

When he does reach 30,000, James will join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki in the club. He'll be the youngest to achieve the mark.

So it's fitting that James concluded: "Congrats again Young King."