LeBron James entered the NBA in 2003 with a game, by his own admission, far more Magic than Michael, among the many reasons the fadeaway jumper James made Feb. 7 to eclipse the all-time scoring record seemed so improbable. Scoring records were for scorers, like Jordan (whom James passed in 2019), Kobe Bryant (’20) and Karl Malone (’22). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 career points once seemed an unbreakable record, like Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak or Wayne Gretzky’s 2,857 career points. It seemed especially unattainable for someone so dedicated to finding teammates. In a 20-year career, Abdul-Jabbar never averaged more than 5.4 assists in a season. In 20 full seasons, James has only once averaged fewer than six.
Where James and Abdul-Jabbar intersect is in durability. Kareem averaged 78 games a season and until his last two years never played fewer than 31 minutes per game. In his career, James has averaged 71 games—and never fewer than 33 minutes in any of them.
In his 21st season, James remains among the NBA’s elite.
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So what’s left? Forty thousand points is within reach. Three more healthy seasons—and as stout as he’s been over the long haul, James has missed significant time in four of his last five seasons—could see him overtake Robert Parish for the all-time lead in games played (1,611) and move into the top 30 in total rebounds along the way. James, already among the NBA’s top five playmakers, would have to extend his career even longer—a lot longer—to pass John Stockton on the all-time assists list, but he could rise as high as second with three or four full years.
There’s another, more personal goal. In the history of pro sports, few fathers—Gordie Howe and Ken Griffey Sr.—have played with their sons. James has already said he’d like to stay in the NBA until his eldest son, Bronny, a freshman at USC, gets there, and a recent Beats commercial, narrated by James’s wife, Savannah, suggested he’d be willing to wait for Bryce, a high school junior, too.
As moments go, few can top breaking the scoring record. Sharing the floor with one—or both—of his sons certainly would.
