What Lebron passing Kareem’s total means
It’s about to happen. Lebron James is finally on the brink of passing Kareem Abdul-jabbar for the NBA’S career scoring record, the torch getting passed from one member of the Los Angeles Lakers to another.
James is 35 points away from Abdul-jabbar’s total of 38,387. The record-breaker could come as early as Tuesday when the Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder or Thursday in Los Angeles against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Here’s the significance of James passing Abdul-jabbar:
Will this record fall again?
Perhaps, but no time soon. James is on pace to eclipse the 40,000-point mark next season and is under contract for one more season after that as well. And even then there’s no guarantee that he won’t continue playing; he has said many times he would like to stay in the NBA long enough for his son, Lebron James Jr. — he goes by “Bronny” — to get to the league, something that won’t happen until 2024-25 at the earliest.
The closest player currently in the NBA to James on the all-time list is Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, who has 26,684 points. Durant would probably have to play at least another six or seven seasons just to catch Abduljabbar’s mark — and who knows how far James will raise the bar by then.
Philadelphia’s James Harden and the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook are just over 24,000 points apiece. Both of them are all-time greats, but they’re not going to catch James.
So unless the NBA adds a 10-point shot, the record won’t be broken for a very, very, very long time.
How did James get here?
James entered the NBA straight out of high school; Abdul-jabbar had a college career before he was eligible to join the league. James was 18 when he scored his first NBA points; Abdul-jabbar was 22.
It took Abdul-jabbar 20 seasons to get to 38,387. James will catch him in his 20th season.
James has been durable, especially over the first three-quarters of his career. He missed only 71 games in his first 15 seasons. Since joining the Lakers four seasons ago, he has missed nearly 100 games. But he has always avoided major injury; part of that is just good luck, but much of it is because he reportedly invests more than $1 million annually on his body.
For almost the entirety of James’ career, keeping The King fit has fallen on the shoulders of Mike Mancias, one of the mosttrusted members of James’ inner circle. Mancias never wants any credit for his work; he shuns limelight the way James blows past defenders.
Note: The NBA has rescheduled three games after one game was postponed last week when the Detroit Pistons were stranded in Dallas due to a winter storm. The Pistons will make up their home game against the Washington Wizards on March 7. The league also rescheduled games for both franchises to avoid either team playing on three straight days. Detroit will host the Portland Trail Blazers on March 6, a day before previously scheduled. The Wizards will face the Milwaukee Bucks at home on March 5, also a day earlier than previously planned.
Nets: Luka Doncic has his co-star, and Dallas is set for its season essentially to start over after trading for Kyrie Irving. The blockbuster deal with Brooklyn sending the mercurial Irving to the Mavericks became official Monday, two days before what figures to be his Dallas debut at the Los Angeles Clippers. Dallas also gets Markieff Morris in a trade that sent Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-smith, a 2029 firstround pick and two second-round choices to the Nets.
Suns: Phoenix president and CEO Jason Rowley has decided to leave the team as the franchise moves forward with leadership changes, according to a person familiar with the details. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Rowley’s resignation was not shared outside of the organization. The person said Rowley's departure was “shared internally” within the Suns organization on Monday. ESPN first reported the news.