The all-time leading scorer in professional basketball history, Oscar Schmidt, opened up on his favorite NBA players today. He named Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic before saying foreign players are much better than American players.
“I look for Luka Doncic, I look for [Nikola] Jokic, I look for all the foreign players much more than American players because they are much better than the American players. They’re much better.”
Schmidt then heaped praise on Jokic, who could win his third MVP trophy in four seasons this year.
“Look at how Jokic is playing. He’s gonna win his third (MVP). He can’t jump but he can shoot and do anything that you want. He’s making a triple-double on the median. He’s unbelievable. One day, I saw him, he was shooting and boom, he passed the ball behind. Come on!”
"I look for Luka Doncic, I look for [Nikola] Jokic, I look for all the foreign players… they are much better than the American players."
Basketball's all-time leading scorer Oscar Schmidt on his favorite players in the NBA.
(via @pablofindsout)pic.twitter.com/t1L9kzpi9d
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 14, 2024
Schmidt has a good point. Luka Doncic is the league’s leading scorer, on pace to average the most points in the NBA without accounting for free throws since Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He’s averaging 34.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 9.8 assists, making a near-30-point triple-double his season average.
Nikola Jokic is averaging 26.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 9.2 assists. His individual stats aren’t as gaudy, but he’s arguably the best player in the NBA. He’s the reigning Finals MVP and could take the Nuggets back to the No. 1 seed this season.
Beyond them, most of the best players in the NBA are foreign. The other two leading MVP candidates are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo, both non-American players. Outside of that, players like Joel Embiid, Victor Wembanyama, and Domantas Sabonis, among others are also incredibly talented.
Oscar Schmidt May Lose His Title As Basketball’s All-Time Leading Scorer
Oscar Schmidt retired in 1998 as the solidified all-time leader in scoring across professional basketball, having scored 49,737 points in his career. The record was widely considered unbreakable, especially within the context of the NBA. However, a player who started his professional career five years after Schmidt retired is on the precipice of breaking that record.
LeBron James currently has registered 48,137 points in his career, still needing 1,600 to catch up to Schmidt. If the Lakers can make the playoffs and James remains healthy, he could legitimately break this record at some point next season. He recently became the first NBA player to tally 40,000 regular-season points. With the playoff scoring record also in his name, the only scoring accomplishment left for James to earn is this honor.
LeBron breaking this record at the end of his career also calls back to the point Schmidt made about foreign players being better than American players. James was the unquestioned face of the NBA for over a decade. His biggest rivals were fellow American players like Kobe Bryant, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, among others.
The top of the NBA is littered with foreign superstars now, with no American player standing out enough to be considered better than the top superstars. While hopes from players like Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum are high, it seems the LeBron era was the last time the defining face of the NBA will be an American superstar.
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