Storyline: LeBron has proven time and time again that he can do everything on the basketball court. He’s a great scorer: so great in fact that he has the possibility to take over as number one on the all-time scoring list.
Courtesy: nytimes.com
There’s no doubt that LeBron James is the best basketball player on the planet. Don’t get me wrong, there have been doubters out there; oh there are plenty. Some say Stephen Curry is coming for that spot. Others say that he has already taken the position of number one in the world. Curry is a fantastic player, capable of many things that people at his size shouldn’t be able to do. Unfortunately, LeBron proves time and time again that he is the best. Recently, LeBron moved into the 25th spot on the all-time assist list. This is a great feat, especially for a player that averages 27.3 points per game for his career. And that’s what I’m here to talk about: scoring.
Last year, LeBron James became the youngest player (30 years old) to reach 25,000 career points, surpassing long-time friend and rival, Kobe Bryant (31 years old). While he may not say it, or possibly even consciously think about it, being on top of that list would mean the world to The King. It would solidify his already guaranteed Hall of Fame position. He has to catch, and pass, the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who holds the record of 38,387. This record has stood for decades with The Mailman, Karl Malone, being the closest one to it; he ended his career at 36,928 points.
Currently, LeBron sits at number 19 on this list. To pass Reggie Miller, who is at number 18, LeBron has to score five points. This is something he can do in half a quarter, or less. The real problem comes when he wants to reach number 1. Let’s do some quick math.
You take Kareem’s point total (38,387) minus LeBron’s current total (25,274) and get the difference. That number (13,113) is the amount of points LeBron needs to score to tie for number 1.
Courtesy: content.usatoday.com
Kareem played 20 seasons in the NBA, so let’s just assume that LeBron plays this amount. LeBron is in his 13th season. In the interest of having somewhat accurate numbers, this means, hypothetically, that LeBron has seven seasons left. Next, you take the amount of points LeBron needs to score (13,113) and divide it by the hypothetical amount of seasons he has left (7). That number turns out to be 1,873 points; this is what LeBron must score every year until his 20th season.
Then, we add up the total number of games he’s missed the past twelve years (53) and divide that by the amount of season he’s played, excluding the current season (12). This number is 4: the average number of games he’s missed in his career. So we take that from a normal NBA season (82 games) and we get 78. After that, we take the number of points he needs to score every year (1,873) and divide it by 78: the answer is 24.01. This ultimate number is the amount of points he needs to average each of his last, hypothetical, 7 seasons in order to tie and usurp Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s role as all-time leading scorer.
24+ points a game is something LeBron has been able to do for each season in his career, except his rookie year. Barring injury, continuing this shouldn’t be much of a task for King James. Also, one of his very few obstacles is fellow future Hall of Famer, Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba holds the number 3 spot on the list at 32,645. Fortunately for LeBron, Kobe and Dirk’s (number 7 on the list at 28,353 points) careers are on the decline which means no current player is standing in his way.
Of course, this is all hypothetical math. It’s not common to have a 20 year career. But if anyone can do it, it’s LeBron James. If he can play for that long, and can maintain the calculations I’ve described, he should have no problem reaching number 1 and becoming immortal.
