LeBron James has been on a tear this season as a scorer. The Los Angeles Lakers star has been putting up some of the best scoring numbers of his career this season and has had incredible scoring outbursts against multiple teams. And recently, James made progress in his quest to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Karl Malone to go second overall on the list, in what was a historic moment.
And one NBA analyst believes James is targeting the top spot on the all-time scoring list to become the greatest of all time. NBA insider Brian Windhorst noted that he thinks James wants to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer because it will allow him to make the argument that no player has been as good as him for as long as him.
If LeBron becomes the NBA's all-time leading scorer, will you consider him the GOAT? 🐐@WindhorstESPN looks at James' push to cement his legacy (@espnplus) ➡️ https://t.co/9KXI5Pncl7 pic.twitter.com/y0gKa2sawY
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 21, 2022
“James’ claim ultimately will be this: No one was ever this good for this long.”
Windhorst is not the only person to make this argument. Skip Bayless, one of LeBron’s harshest critics, has also consistently claimed that LeBron James is chasing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring title to further his GOAT argument, although Bayless usually uses that statement to criticize LeBron James.
LeBron’s scoring numbers, especially this season have been truly ridiculous. Considering James is a pass-first player, LeBron surpassing Karl Malone on the NBA’s all-time scoring list is truly astonishing. LeBron’s scoring exploits have been the biggest reason why the Lakers are still staying afloat and have a chance to make the playoffs.
Going forward, James only has a few more years left to surpass Kareem. But given the way he has been scoring, he won’t need too many games to get past him and become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Knowing LeBron, he will want to get to that point sooner rather than later.
