LeBron James Says There's No Trash Talk With Chris Paul Over All-Time Assists

James and Paul are longtime friends and trash talk is not part of their dynamic

LeBron James is currently eighth on the NBA's all-time assist leader list with 9,067 assists, 369 assists behind Chris Paul's 9,436. 

James is leading the league in assists this season with 10.7 a game, while Paul is 19th in the league with 6.4 a game. 

So James is creeping up on Paul, one of his best friends. 

James was asked at Wednesday's shootaround ahead of the Lakers' game against Orlando if there's any friendly trash talk between the two buddies as he nips at Paul's heels. 

"No, not really," James said. "We talk a lot, myself, [Car]melo [Anthony], [Dwyane Wade]. We talk a lot about things that’s going on in our lives or our careers. If we’re able to hit a milestone throughout the course of this marathon, we acknowledge one another. We congratulate one another. But it never goes to the trash talking side. 

'It’s never been in our DNA. It’s never been who we’ve been about throughout our career since our brotherhood started. It’s pretty damn cool to see CP right there, I’m right there in assists. Guys coming from small cities, Winston-Salem and Akron, Ohio. And that would be Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for some of you guys that [don’t know]. To do what we’re doing today, that’s pretty cool."

James' and Paul's friendship extends back to their childhood. They played AAU basketball against each other, they played in the 2003 McDonald’s All-American game, they were on the U.S. Olympic teams that won gold at Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. They attended each other's weddings, they've traveled together and celebrated the births of each other's children. 

James, 35, is reaching a lot of milestones at this stage in his career.  

In addition to being eighth in all-time assists, he's fourth in all-time points (33,513), fourth in all-time field goals made (12,209), sixth in all-time free throws made (7,287) 11th in minutes played (47,559) and 13th in steals (1,986). 

James is a 15-time All-Star and a three-time NBA champion. He's led the Lakers this season to the top record in the Western Conference at 33-7.