Catching James seems like long shot at best
A handful of players are worth considering
James Harden averaged 36 points a few seasons ago. Devin Booker once scored 70 in one game.
Many more players are doing much more scoring now than when Lebron James began his NBA career in 2003-04. Tracy Mcgrady led the league with 28 points per game that season, a mark that nine players are currently surpassing.
With the faster pace of play and the plethora of 3-pointers, players have plenty of chances to pile up points. But a look at Harden shows how hard it will be for even an elite scorer to keep doing it long enough to challenge James.
He averaged 36.1 points in 2019-20 and 34.3 the next season. Maintain those kinds of numbers for 75 games a season, and a player would be flirting with 40,000 points in 15 years — though that still probably wouldn’t be enough to reach where James will put the record that’s now 38,390.
But then circumstances changed. A trade first to Brooklyn and then Philadelphia meant having to share shots, and a severe hamstring injury robbed Harden of much of his explosiveness. He hasn’t averaged 25 points since.
Still, perhaps some players will have a chance.
Here’s a look at some of the possibilities:
■ Jayson Tatum, Boston: Tatum went toe-to-toe with James in the 2018 Eastern Conference finals, when he finished with more points in a postseason than any rookie other than Abdul-jabbar. Tatum averaged better than 26 points the past two seasons, is at nearly 31 per game this one and doesn’t turn 25 until next month. Keep up this season’s average for the next 13, and he could be toe-to-toe with James again.
■ Luka Doncic, Dallas. Playing professionally in Spain before coming to the U.S. had him ready to make a quick splash in the NBA, and he’s averaged better than 27 points in four of his five seasons. Doncic has racked up more than 8,500 points and won’t turn 24 until the end of this month.
■ Devin Booker, Phoenix. Booker can get as hot as anyone in the league, as he showed when he scored 70 points in Boston in 2017 at 20 years old, or when he had three straight games with 40 or more in December. The guard is 26 and has 12,000 points. Do a little better than his 27.1 points per game this season for 12 more years, and he could make things interesting.
■ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee. Perhaps he never had a chance at the career scoring record after managing just 525 points as a rookie. But few players work harder to improve than the Greek Freak, who might have replaced James as the NBA’S most unstoppable athletic force. He just turned 28 and is in his fourth straight season averaging better than 28 points.
■ Victor Wembanyama, France. The 19-year-old will arrive in the NBA in June as the most hyped prospect since James. At 7 feet 3 inches with shooting range and ballhandling skills of a player much smaller, he has numerous ways to score.