LeBron James wants to go for that highest points ever – that is something that no current player apart from James could achieve
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LeBron James currently sits at 36,500-points, 428-points behind 2nd place Karl Malone, and 1887- points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. At his current average of 29.1 points, he should be able to pass Malone this season, and Kareem sometime in 2023. The world shall witness one of the greatest achievements in basketball soon.
But a lot has been spoken about the way he’s scored his points in his career. Popular NBA analyst Skip Bayless for one calls LeBron one of the least clutch players ever. He’s blatantly accused him of stat padding. Especially in blowout losses. Not just Skip, but a lot of the fans think the same.
King James has twenty-three 30-point games this season, 11 of them coming in losses. Out of those 11, he’s chased that 30 piece heavily on 6 occasions. He also scored when the points didn’t matter nine times this season. Two of those had the fans cackling. Against the Indiana Pacers, he literally made a lay-up with 4 seconds to go in the game, while the team was down by 10.
Even hard-core fans of the superstar cannot deny the fact that this has been going on for a long time. He has to make sure he lives up to his nickname “King” James since there is no way he can pass up Michael Jordan in rings.
LeBron James has always drawn the ire of the public when it comes to his stats – he has been accused of stat padding ever since his first Cavaliers stint
Bron has never averaged below 20 points a season in his career ever. Last season was his first playoff first-round loss to the eventual finalists the Phoenix Suns. While he was younger, the team around him was below the standard of what a generational talent like James would need to win a championship.
His move to the Miami Heat caused pandemonium, calling him a sell-out. Fans said he could not win without a super team, and to date it is true. LeBron has never done what Dirk Nowitzki or Giannis Antetokounmpo have done in their careers. The King will always remain one rung lower than His Airness, and that is something nobody can change.
While fans cannot tell what exactly the reasoning is behind LeBron’s sudden burst of scoring this season, one can only speculate it is to pass up Kareem. Since coming to the Lakers, his focus was mainly to create plays, but this season he took back the primary scorer role. Whether that is because AD has been injured or Russell Westbrook has not performed to his level, it cannot be told, but it definitely accelerated the timeline for getting that scoring achievement.
Every player in the league has stat padded at some point – even Michael Jordan did it before Scottie Pippen
Everybody who plays professional basketball, however selfless, cares about their stats. Kobe Bryant would have definitely had it in mind when he scored 81, Devin Booker definitely was conscious when he scored 70 and Rondo definitely counted his assists. While everyone plays to win, certain athletes push their stats in garbage time just to look good on paper. They may count, but those extra rebounds or layups make no difference.
James has almost 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in all the 4th quarters he’s played this season. Crunching the numbers, and going through all the play by plays will show you that in most games he does nothing in the final 5 minutes, and whenever he comes into the game, the momentum swings towards the opposition. The most recent example is the loss against the Bucks, where the game was within reach but went out as soon as he got back into action.
If any player comes out and openly says they do not care about stats, they are lying. Statistics are the reason for their bread and butter. The better they perform, the better they get paid. In a world where nothing is guaranteed, they need to be putting out the best numbers possible to remain in the league for a long time. That also does not mean they put up meaningless stats in a non-winning franchise. That is like saying a goldfish is the king of water bodies when there are whole oceans out there.
