LeBron James has had a career that few can truly match up with. James entered the NBA in 2003 as an exciting 18-year-old prospect. Since then, he has gone on to have a near-20 year career and consistently played at the highest level possible.
James’ longevity in the NBA has allowed him to break some records that nobody thought were possible. James is the leading scorer in NBA playoff history, with a significant gap over Michael Jordan and the rest of the NBA greats.
So far, he is the player with the most playoff experience in NBA history, only missing the NBA playoffs in 3 of the 18 seasons he has played in the league. And during those 15 trips to the playoffs, he has made it past the first round on 14 occasions.
The record that James will be targeting going forward is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points, the all-time record for most total points in NBA history. James is currently at the 35,000 mark and will need to score 3000 points more in order to surpass Kareem.
But should that day come, Kareem will be elated and celebrate James’ accomplishment. In a recent interview with Marc Stein, Kareem spoke about the possibility of LeBron breaking his record for most career points.
Kareem said that records were meant to be broken, and he would be right there with LeBron to celebrate should he surpass him in the all-time scoring charts.
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“I’m excited to see it happen. I don’t see records as personal accomplishments, but more as human achievements. If one person can do something that’s never been done, that means we all have a shot at doing it. It’s a source of hope and inspiration. Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile back in 1954. Since then, not only have 1,400 runners beaten that time, but the new record is 17 seconds less. We all win when a record is broken and if LeBron breaks mine, I will be right there to cheer him on.”
James has the chance to go down as the most decorated player in NBA history, given how long his career has been going and how he has taken care of his body over the last few years.
Despite James turning 37 this December, he is still playing at the highest level possible and hasn’t suffered a significant drop in the quality of his play. So given his quality of play over the last few seasons, James surpassing Kareem over the next few seasons will be far from a surprise to any NBA fan.
