Michael Jordan is one of the most legendary players to ever play in the NBA. The Chicago Bulls legend had numerous accolades to his name and was a beast on both ends of the floor.
One of the greatest skills that MJ possessed was his ability to score with ease. It’s no surprise that Jordan won 10 scoring titles and averaged at least 30 PPG in 8 seasons during his career. Keeping that in mind, it’s a surprise that Michael Jordan is not the all-time NBA scoring leader. Instead, the Chicago Bulls legend is at the 5th spot with 32,292 career points to his name.
As of now, it’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who holds that record. But LeBron James is closing in fast on that record and is expected to break it by the end of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Why Did Michael Jordan Have No Interest In Breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Scoring Record?
While Michael Jordan is considered as the GOAT of basketball for most fans, had he been the all-time NBA scoring leader, it would have become another feather in the cap for him. However, becoming the all-time scoring leader also requires a player to have insane longevity apart from being a lethal scorer.
Via The SportsRush:
In his years before baseball, Jordan had shot a stellar .516 from the floor, but the numbers dipped to just .441 during his seventeen-game run over the spring of 1995. Now, he was up to .493. His scoring, too, was headed back up to a 30-point average from the nine-year low of 26.9 in 1995. Lacy Banks put together a comparison showing that if Jordan played through the 1998 season, he would rest third on the all-time scoring list with almost 29,000 points, behind only Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leader with 38,397. Banks asked him about going for the all-time record. “Forget Jabbar,” Jordan replied. “No way do I plan to play anywhere close to twenty years
It was as simple as that. Jordan didn’t want to play for 20 years in the NBA. It takes an incredible toll on an athlete’s body to play for 20 straight seasons in the league. Although Jordan played a total of 15 seasons in the NBA, he retired from the league on two occasions. Maybe if he didn’t retire on those occasions, he would be the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.
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