Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James38, has derailed basketball’s Hall of Fame center By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dethroned as the all-time leading scorer in his 20th NBA season.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday night against Okhaloma, James scored his 38,388th point, passing Abdul-Jabbar by a point.
Abdul-Jabbar, 75, has been the leading point guard in the world’s best basketball league for more than 38 years. He passed 19 years on the throne Wilt Chamberlain’s 31,419 points on April 5, 1984.
When Abdul-Jabbar retired from basketball in 1989, his wild NBA career scoring streak (38,387) was considered one of the most unbroken records in the league.
– After all, this act of LeBron’s is huge, when you can’t really characterize him as having ever been a terribly good thrower. I still remember the sports screen in which it was reported in 1984, when Kareem once became the number one scorer, says Finland’s first NBA professional Hanno Möttöläwho was eight years old at the time.
– Everyone can think about the proportions of the act, if a player in hockey, beloved by Finns, were to go Wayne Gretzky past in NHL all-time points. If baskets and assists were included, LeBron’s lead would be even bigger, Möttölä compares.
Before James’ feat, the closest they got to Abdul-Jabbar’s record was Karl Malone (36,928 points, ended his career in 2004), Kobe Bryant (33,643 / year 2016) and Michael Jordan (32,292/ in 2003), but none of these basketball legends could even surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s basketball numbers.
– Abdul-Jabbar played in a time before the entry of modern media and TV contracts. That’s why he has remained perhaps partly underrated. Kareem still has the only unstoppable sky hook shot in basketball, which he made with his left and right hand, Möttölä points out.
According to Möttölä, everyone else has been a role player in the NBA at the age of 38, but the point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers is still a superstar. James is the only NBA player to record a triple-double in the 20th season of his career.
– As an athlete, LeBron is completely exceptional. He has raw muscle mass, explosiveness, effort power and more. There is no such thing in any sport. He is one of 7.5 billion, and you haven’t really seen guys like that on the sports fields, Möttölä reminds.
– His career outside the basketball court is completely spotless and he has lived under a terrible magnifying glass. LeBron is married to his high school girlfriend, and there is no buzz in the background in an age where every possible thing is reported on social media.
During his long career, James has been able to enjoy two things that Abdul-Jabbar missed out on during his 20-year NBA career from 1969 to 1989. Three-pointers were introduced to the NBA in 1979–80, Abdul-Jabbar’s 11th professional season. The 218-centimeter center made only one three-pointer in the NBA, while the 203-centimeter James has made more than 2,200 of them.
In addition, before his professional career, Abdul-Jabbar spent four seasons in college basketball. LeBron James, on the other hand, jumped straight from school to the NBA at the age of 18.
– The first memory I have of LeBron was in my first year with the Atlanta Hawks (2000), when someone in our management said that there was such a good player growing up in Ohio who could come directly to the NBA after the first year of high school. He is the only teenage star in sports history who has been able to exceed all expectations in any sport, Möttölä emphasizes.
LeBron has won NBA championships in three clubs (Miami Heat x2, Cleveland Cavaliers and LA Lakers) and has been in the NBA finals ten times.
– Personally, I would still highlight the fact that in his second NBA year, at the age of 19, he led the completely anonymous Cleveland, considered the worst NBA finalist team in history, to the finals in 2004 with an average of over 27 points per game.
– Statistically, LeBron has the all-time NBA career, but I still think Jordan is the all-time player. Kareem is often forgotten in this conversation, even though he has better basketball statistics and championships than Jordan, when his university career is included, says Möttölä.
James, 38, has progressed steadily strongly as the all-time corsair manufacturer. He passed Chamberlain in 2018, Jordan in 2019, Bryant in 2020 and Malone in March 2022.
– He is still making wild statistics at the age of 38. However, at the beginning of his career, LeBron also characterized himself as a playmaker. His physical superiority has led to the fact that he has scored just under 30 points per match throughout his career.
“King James” has a valid contract until the 2024-25 season, and he hasn’t even hinted at quitting yet. The four-time MVP player has the opportunity to reach the 40,000-point mark.
LeBron James invested millions in his body
Currently, the active player closest to James in points is the Brooklyn Nets Kevin Durantwho ranks 14th in the all-time scoring list with 26,684 points. However, Durant is already 34 years old and has suffered from numerous injuries in recent years, so he is not a serious candidate to overtake James.
In 2016, it was reported that James spent as much as $1.5 million a year on his body. James’s house resembled a laboratory in part, where he was assisted by a recovery coach, a team of physical trainers, and personal chefs and massage therapists. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed at the time that James also had an amazing gym, ice pool, hot tub and pressure chamber at home.
LeBron’s peer Kendrick Perkins, who is now an NBA commentator for ESPN, remembers from his high school days, when other teenage athletes went out to eat hamburgers, LeBron was already drinking healthy smoothies and eating salad at that point. He was already ahead of others in eating habits decades ago.
From the younger generation of players With Luka Doncic is likely the best shot to make a big jump in scoring, even though the 23-year-old Dallas Mavericks point guard has said there is “no way” he’ll ever be the NBA’s leading scorer. In his own words, he “doesn’t plan to play as much or at least as long” as LeBron.
– Luka enjoys life as a bystander, and he doesn’t put $4,000 a day into his body. He doesn’t consider himself to be like LeBron. We don’t know if the next NBA point record holder has even been born yet, Möttölä reflects.
James also holds the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring record with 7,631 points. The trio of Jordan (5,987), Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) and Bryant (5,640) are next.