It’s about to happen. LeBron James is on course to overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA points record, which means the torch will therefore pass from one member of the Los Angeles Lakers to another.
James is 35 points off Abdul-Jabbar’s total of 38,387. The record could fall as early as Tuesday when the Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder, or Thursday in Los Angeles against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Will this record be broken again?
Maybe, but not anytime soon.
James is expected to break the 40,000 points mark next season and is also under contract for one more season. And there’s no guarantee he won’t continue playing. He has said repeatedly that he would like to stay in the NBA long enough for his son LeBron James Jr.—nicknamed “Bronny”—to make it to the league, which won’t happen until 2024-25 at the earliest.
The closest active NBA player to LeBron James currently is Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets, who has 26,684 points. Durant would probably have to play at least six or seven more seasons just to catch up with Abdul-Jabbar — and who knows how high James will raise the bar by then.
So unless the NBA adds a 10-point shot, the record won’t be broken for a long, long time.
How did James get there?
James entered the NBA right out of high school, while Abdul-Jabbar had to have a college career before he could make it into the league. James was 18 when he scored his first NBA points. Abdul-Jabbar was 22 years old.
It took Abdul-Jabbar 20 seasons to reach 38,387 points. James will catch up with him at his 20e season too.
LeBron James has been able to stay consistent, especially through the first three quarters of his career. He missed just 71 games in his first 15 seasons. Since joining the Lakers four and a half seasons ago, he’s missed nearly 100 games. However, he always avoided serious injuries. Part of that is due to luck, but a lot of it is due to the fact that he would invest over a million dollars a year in caring for his body.
Is he the best of all time?
LeBron James can very well be considered the greatest of all time, by his longevity on the court, his accomplishments, and also the fact that no one in NBA history has been so hard to stop for more than 20 years. However, other legends are also in the conversation, such as Abdul-Jabbar, with his points record and his favorite shot, the “sky hook”; six-time championship winner Michael Jordan, one of the greatest athletes in sports history; Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who is the most prolific three-pointer in history; or even Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and many more.
Ultimately, the answer to the greatest player of all time debate is that there is not just one, but many. And at this point, it’s more a matter of opinion.