LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, but Tracy McGrady doesn’t view him as one of the five best scorers in NBA history. McGrady was recently asked to share his top five list and excluded LeBron from it.
“Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and T-Mac,” McGrady said.
Not a bad list… pic.twitter.com/ud1O9KuaXU
— @TheGOATSofBall (@TheGOATSofball) August 24, 2024
Just before he became the all-time leading scorer, LeBron stated people would have no choice but to consider him one of the greatest scorers in NBA history when he got to the top of the pile. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers star, McGrady and many others still don’t bring up his name.
On paper, LeBron has a great case to be regarded as one of the five best scorers. The 39-year-old has won a scoring title and has a career scoring average of 27.1 points per game. He has been quite efficient too, shooting 50.6% from the field in his 21 seasons.
LeBron has also averaged at least 25 points for 20 seasons, an NBA record. Kevin Durant, who is on McGrady’s list, is a distant second with 15 such seasons. The 20-time All-Star has been a dominant scorer in the postseason as well, with a career average of 28.4 points per game.
You’d think all that would see LeBron generally regarded as at least one of the five greatest scorers ever, but that’s not the case. His reputation as a pass-first player is certainly one of the reasons why and it’s a bit of a shame that he’ll never quite get the respect he deserves for his scoring prowess.
As for the ones who did make McGrady’s list, there is no denying they are among the best scorers we have seen. Michael Jordan won a record 10 scoring titles and averaged 30.1 points per game for his career. LeBron’s longtime rival Kevin Durant has won four scoring titles and has a career scoring average of 27.3 points per game.
Kobe Bryant and McGrady, meanwhile, won two scoring titles each, with the former averaging 25.0 points per game in his career and the latter averaging 19.6. As for Carmelo Anthony, he won a scoring title and averaged 22.5 points per game in his career.
Anthony or McGrady would be who I’d remove for LeBron, though. T-Mac’s prime was cut short by injuries and I don’t think he was great for long enough to be in the top five. Anthony, on the other hand, did play for a long time and had a deep “bag” but I wouldn’t put him over LeBron.
Tracy McGrady Didn’t Have LeBron James On His Mount Rushmore Of 2010 Scorers
McGrady excluding LeBron from his top-five list wasn’t all that surprising to me. Earlier this year, McGrady shared his Mount Rushmore of 2010 scorers and James wasn’t in it.
“Melo, KD, James Harden, and Chef Curry man. Those are my four. KD is arguably one of the most efficient shooters ever. The things Harden was doing night in and night out in that Rockets uniform was incredible man. Steph Curry, the world’s greatest shooter, has averaged over 30 in the league. And Melo, when it comes to one-on-one, Melo is in the conversation of those who cannot be stopped.”
It’s clear that McGrady thinks very highly of Anthony, but he doesn’t really have a case to be ahead of James in the 2010s. In the decade, LeBron averaged 26.9 points on 52.9% shooting from the field while Carmelo put up 23.9 points on 44.1% shooting. I think it’s pretty clear who was the better scorer of the two in the 2010s.
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