NFL
By: Christopher Jordan
Coming into the season, all the talk has been about LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record.
Kareem has held this scoring record for 39 years, and it has been a record that most people thought would never be broken.
Kareem played in the NBA for 20 years, and his longevity was quite remarkable. Kareem played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers in his career, and he scored 38,387 points making him the greatest scorer in NBA history.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the all-time leading scorer in NBA history on April 5, 1984, against the Utah Jazz. Kareem passed Wilt Chamberlain for the all-time leading scorer.
For the past 39 years, no player in the NBA has passed Kareem’s scoring record, including players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, etc.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are known as the two greatest scorers this game has ever seen, and they never came close to Kareem’s scoring record.
With that being said, that shows how great of a player Kareem was because some of the greatest players we as fans always talk about as the greatest players to play the sport of basketball never passed Kareem’s record.
LeBron James, on the other hand, came into the NBA as someone that is not known as a scorer compared to some of the all-time greats that have played in the NBA.
James is a pass-first player, and he’s someone that some people say is not a great scorer, and he shouldn’t be in the conversation for being an all-time great player.
Most people would probably say Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant are more gifted scorers than LeBron James. However, LeBron James is on the verge of doing something that nobody else can say they did.
As of right now, James has scored 38,072 points, and James is 315 points away from tying Kareem’s record and 316 away from breaking it.
James is averaging 29.7 points, 7.0 assists, and 8.4 rebounds per game. James is shooting 51 percent from the field.
LeBron James is redefining longevity because he’s doing something that’s never been done. Players who have played 20 years in the NBA usually aren’t good in year 20, and they’re on the verge of retiring.
Kobe Bryant, in year 20, averaged 17.6 points per game while shooting 35 percent from the field. Dirk Nowitzki, in year 20, averaged 7.3 points per game while shooting 36 percent from the field.
Kevin Garnett, in year 21, in the NBA, averaged 3.2 points per game.
LeBron is averaging like fine wine because he’s putting up the same numbers, he put up ten years ago.
That’s something that’s unreal, and LeBron is doing something that no one can gloss over because he’s in a class by himself when it comes to longevity.
When James passes the record sometime this season, the real question is how long he can keep playing this way because he’s fought off father time better than any other athlete in the history of sports.
When LeBron James decides to retire and move on to his next chapter in life. The scoring record may be at a point where James has scored over 40,000 points making it very unlikely for anyone else to surpass.
LeBron James has a lot of basketball left in the tank, and he will continue to play great and be the player he’s been since he came into the league.
At this point, in LeBron’s career, people should appreciate his greatness because when he retires, we will never see someone like LeBron James ever again.
James has exceeded expectations, and he has put himself in the conversation as one of the greatest players, or in some people’s eyes, he’s the greatest player ever.
James will most likely break Kareem’s record in early February, and we will have a new all-time NBA scoring leader for the first time in 39 years.
