Philadelphia 76ers superstar LeBron James has been called all sorts of things, both good and bad, over the course of his two-decade-plus NBA career. That’s down to James being arguably the most polarizing athlete of all time, and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has now slapped a new, interesting label on him during an appearance on The Young Man and The Three podcast.
“LeBron is a modest arrogant guy,” O’Neal said. “For example, he’s loving the fact that he’s the No. 1 scorer in the league. But guess what? I’m going to put this s*** so far out of reach, nobody will ever do it. Like, I ain’t going to lie, when I was playing, looking at [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s] number, I was like, ‘Man, 36,000, 38, I’ll never get to that.’
“I looked at it the other day, LeBron’s at 45, still averaging 20,” O’Neal said. “He going to mess around and be at 50,000 points.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had seemingly put the all-time scoring record beyond reach when he retired with 38,387 points in 1989. O’Neal, for all his dominance at his peak, finished well behind Abdul-Jabbar with 28,596 points. The 54-year-old was right in thinking he was never getting there.
With James, though, it became clear in the early 2020s that it was only a matter of time before he passed Abdul-Jabbar. It finally happened on Feb. 7, 2023, during a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, if you’d told someone 20 years ago that Abdul-Jabbar’s record would be broken, they’d have imagined a player just about crawled past it. James, though, has blasted through. The 41-year-old has 43,440 points to his name.
O’Neal thinks James could hit the 50,000-point mark, but that might be too much even for him. The 22-time All-Star will get to 45,000, though, as he is still playing at a high level.
James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2025-26. That scoring record is likely going to be beyond reach, and O’Neal thinks some rule changes will be needed for someone to break it.
“Me and you both will probably be dead before somebody passed it up,” O’Neal told co-host Cam Johnson. “… The only way they passing up is four-point shot and a five-point shot. And then you get a guy that’s like Steph Curry who averages 50 points. So LeBron thinks like that. So if I was him, if I could play two more years and put all those records out of reach, I would.”
That might be the only way. James’ longevity is simply remarkable. He is the first player ever to play 23 seasons and is likely going to play 25 after signing a two-year, $8 million deal with the 76ers. James does have a player option for the second year, but you’d imagine he will pick it up. There is enough gas in the tank.
This longevity is an argument used for James in the GOAT debate. We have never seen anything like it. O’Neal, though, continues to believe Michael Jordan is the GOAT. It doesn’t look like he’s going to change his mind.
O’Neal has also said it’s championship or bust for James and the 76ers next season. He isn’t interested in hearing any excuses.
