40K and almost 40

Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time scoring record of 38,387 points was once considered unbreakable.  Then came nature’s rare anomaly to the human species that goes with nicknames like “The King” or “King James”.

At 39-years old, LeBron James still dominates players at least 10 years younger than him.  Perhaps with less than 10% of body fat on his 6’9” frame, his physique is best suited for the scripted professional wrestling.

The three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic gold medalist will probably be on the US men’s team to this year’s Paris Olympics.

In a game last February 2023 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron scored 38 points for a career all time score of 38,390, breaking Kareem’s scoring record by 3 points.  There’s no stopping him after that, ending the 2022-2023 season with a total of 38,652 regular season points.  The feat would have been more memorable had they won over OKC.

Last December, LeBron led the LA Lakers to their first NBA Cup in the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, winning over the Indiana Pacers in the Finals.

In their game against the Denver Nuggets last Saturday, LeBron just needed 7 points to reach 40,000 points for the solo lead in the NBA’s all-time scoring list.  He finished with 28 points and became the first player in league history to breach 40,000 points.   To date, he has 40,017 points and counting.  Someone could break his record in the future but probably not in the lifetime of most of us.  LeBron is still good for two more seasons.

Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter, Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray combined for 102 points and spoiled Bron’s historic milestone.  For the second time, breaking scoring records resulted in a loss for LeBron and the Lakers.

Following the 2022-2023 season, Lebron holds the all-time playoff scoring record with 8,023.  Michael Jordan is second on the playoff points list with 5,987 points.

Among the active players aside from LeBron, only Kevin Durant is in the NBA’s top ten on the all-time scoring list at number 9 with 28,372 points.  He needs 225 points to overtake Shaquille O’Neal at 8th with 28,596 points.  At his current scoring clip of 27.9 points per game, KD only need 8 games to dislodge Shaq.

There’s no doubt that LeBron is one of the greatest to ever lace up his own signature Nikes, which has 21 editions.   The debate is still up with the other famous guy also with the number 23 as to who among them is the GOAT.

LeBron is not in the status of Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant to be in the conversation as a Laker great.  Yes, he has incredible talent and amazing longevity in the league, and no one comes even close to him, but, personally, I don’t consider him a Laker great.  Cleveland can have him as a Cavalier great or perhaps Miami can adopt him as a Heat great.