LeBron James becomes the best scorer in NBA history – Liberation

It was October 29, 2003. The room of the Sacramento Kings saw the beginning of the reign of another “King”: with a mid-range shot near the baseline, Lebron James scored his first two points in the NBA. As promising as he was, it’s hard to imagine at this precise moment that two decades later, on Tuesday evening, the same Lebron James would register his 38,387th and 38,388th points, thus becoming the all-time leading scorer in the regular season.

The Lakers superstar dusts off a record hitherto held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of his most illustrious predecessors, who was already playing with the same Lakers jersey until his last game played in 1989. The calendar is teasing since “LBJ” could have achieved such an achievement two days later against the Milwaukee Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar’s first club.

It will finally be a game earlier, against the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a Crypto.com Arena overflowing with fans in turmoil who hoped for an offensive card from the King – he was still missing 36 points. “LBJ” only needed three quarters to get there, a “fadeaway” while touching up to the free throw line.

The NBA had planned everything: American basketball knows how to do it when it comes to immortalizing these moments of anthology. Shot scrutinized, captured from all possible angles, ceremony worthy of the moment under the eyes of a slew of stars (Jay-Z, LL Cool J, John McEnroe, Magic Johnson) and wealthy people who paid up to 24,000 dollars the courtside seat – without forgetting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who came to appreciate the feat on the sidelines. “To be in the presence of such a legend means a lot to me. It’s a great lesson in humility, give the captain an ovation, please!greeted a moved Lebron James.

There were, however, many unrepentant scorers after Abdul-Jabbar. None of them could reach the 38,387 points of the inventor of the “Sky Hook”: the Karl Malone (3rd, 36,928 pts), Kobe Bryant (4th, 33,643 pts), Michael Jordan (5th, 32,292), Dirk Nowitzki (6th, 31,560) or even Shaquille O’Neal (8th, 28,596). If few observers thought that a player other than Abdul-Jabbar would repeat such a performance one day, it is because it requires offensive efficiency coupled with exceptional longevity. Like KAJ, LBJ will have taken twenty seasons to reach this total, after 1,410 games (against 1,560 for “KAJ”). With one nuance: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played four years in the university championship. He therefore joined the NBA with three years of disbursements on James, who arrived after only one season in high school.

Moreover, Lebron James remains the ultimate reference in terms of precocity. The one who was nicknamed teenager “The chosen one” (“The chosen one“) was each time the youngest player to reach the levels of 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 career points.

And soon the 40,000? With this accomplishment now complete, how far can James take his total? The “King” still has room. Statisticians are on deck to estimate the approximate number of points Lebron James could end up with if he continues until Abdul-Jabbar’s age of 41. By comparing the averages of the two at the time of their 37 years – 23 for “KAJ”, 30 for “LBJ” – and based on those, declining, of the last three years of Abdul-Jabbar, Lebron could at least flirt with the 42,000 point mark at the same age, low range.

It remains to be seen when the native of Akron, Ohio, who is still running at a mind-boggling 30.2 points per game this season – his second-best career tally – might start to show signs of decline, as long as he still remains. today one of the most dominant basketball players in the League. Not just in scoring: a few days before his evening prowess, the man with four NBA titles also achieved the feat of becoming the 4th best passer in the history of the Great League. When we know that he intends to play for a few more years, some of his records should stay warm for a while.