LeBron James recently became just the third player in NBA history to accumulate 36,000 points in his career. The King is on a historic run of scoring form, putting up 30 points or more in every game he has played in since December 19th except one, which has catapulted his scoring average to an incredible 28.9 points per game.
At the rate that he is going, he needs only 723 points more to pass Karl Malone and claim 2nd place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. First place still belongs to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has held on to it for over 30 years since his retirement in 1989. Kareem’s record stands at 38,387 points, with LeBron still 2,182 points behind him at 36,205.
But if he can carry on playing the way he has been for the Los Angeles Lakers, even Kareem’s mammoth record is likely to fall to James. And Abdul-Jabbar seems to have made his peace with it, responding to Magic Johnson’s tweet saying that he would congratulate LeBron if he managed to surpass him.
If he can keep up his consistency I’ll gladly be there to congratulate him if and when he breaks the scoring record.
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) January 11, 2022
“If he can keep up his consistency I’ll gladly be there to congratulate him if and when he breaks the scoring record.”
Kareem amassed his ridiculous points tally throughout a 20-year career in which he managed to win 6 NBA championships to go along with 6 MVPs. He is also the oldest player to ever win Finals MVP, managing to do so at the age of 38. Even if James can surpass his record, Kareem’s legacy is already set in stone as one of the greatest players in NBA history.
LeBron himself would benefit massively from achieving the record though, his longevity is already something that almost no player before him has displayed and if he can get the No. 1 spot on this list, it’s difficult to see anyone else being able to surpass him anytime soon. James will be focused on winning another 2 championships as well, with his quest to be considered the GOAT likely meaning he will have to match the number of titles held by Michael Jordan and Kareem.
