LeBron James is now just behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list, and it has come much earlier than anyone expected.
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LeBron Raymone James Sr. has come a long way since making his debut in the NBA in 2003. There were many who betted on him turning out to be a bust since Day 1.
While few believed he’ll get buried under the expectations, some believed he’ll be great but not Michael Jordan or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar great. But the 37-year-old has closed in on anyone and everyone on the GOAT conversation.
He’s the only player in the history of the game to have over 30k points, 10k rebounds, and 10k assists. When you think of it, that alone is an achievement enough to keep him in The Best debate even if he didn’t have any Championships or MVPs. Like his friend Chris Paul, who has won none of those things, but has got himself a place in the conversation to be the GOAT point guard.
Having achieved everything there is to win as a top basketball player in the world and more, James is still adamant to become the Top scorer of all-time and is doing it at a much faster pace than some people thought of.
Two NBA legends.
LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stand at the top of the all-time scoring list 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RGmpjzVCd6
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 20, 2022
LeBron James closes in on Kareem and it’s much earlier than it was supposed to be
On Saturday, the King passed Karl Malone on the All-time scoring list to become the 2nd highest point-getter in the NBA. And while this has been a long time coming for years now, it seemed impossible for anyone to get close to Kareem just 8 years ago.
Thanks to a Reddit user who pointed us to a debate club from 8 years ago where Redditors discussed if anyone could pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ever on the list. And determined that if the Mailman couldn’t do it after playing injury-free for 19 years, nobody will be able to do it, including James.
But “the kid from Akron” has crossed Malone in his 19th year and it looks like his top priority from this season onwards is to cross Jabbar.
Averaging close to 30 ppg at age 37 while people were expecting him to be around 15-16 ppg is just insane. This kind of scoring peak is unseen in the NBA and it will get him to his goal in the next two years.