Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says LeBron James has nothing left to prove at this point of his career as the latter considers retirement.
Although virtually no one expects LeBron James to retire this offseason following his recent comment that hinted he would consider it, there may always be a chance he does call it quits before training camp starts in September.
That chance seems remote, but one can never be sure what James has planned for his immediate future.
On Monday, a lovely new mural honoring James, Anthony Davis and several Los Angeles Lakers greats from yesteryear was unveiled in Koreatown. While there for the event, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the greats from yesteryear that are portrayed on the mural, commented on the possibility of James calling it a career.
“At the end of the year, after all that, LeBron and most of the guys looked like they’d been through two seasons, you know? But they still gave it an awesome effort,” Abdul-Jabbar said Monday. “I think it’s up to him. Certainly doesn’t have to prove anything. And it’s just what he wants to do at this point.”
James surpassed Abdul-Jabbar in February to become the NBA’s all-time leading career scorer. If he returns for a 21st campaign, he will have an excellent shot at reaching 40,000 career points by the end of the season.
A look at the beautiful new mural created by artist Jonas Never that honors three eras of Lakers championship basketball.
As everybody knows, the Los Angeles Lakers boast one of the richest histories in the world of sports, and their lineage of all-time greats rivals that of any other team in any sport.
There was the George Mikan era. There was the era of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain. There was the Showtime era of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Of course, the 2000s belonged to Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
These days, the purple and gold torch is in the hands of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
A new mural honoring Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, Bryant (who was depicted twice as No. 8 and No. 24), O’Neal, Gasol, Davis and James was unveiled in Koreatown, and it is a thing of beauty.
Anthony Davis has had a nice start to the NBA Playoffs, especially defensively and on the boards, which has put him alongside three legends.
Although he had a poor offensive outing in Game 2 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Anthony Davis has been getting the job done overall.
He registered 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocked shots and three steals in Game 1, blocked five shots in Game 2 and had his best game on Saturday with 31 points, 17 boards and three rejections.
In total, Davis has accumulated 66 points, 38 rebounds and 15 blocks over the first three games against the Grizzlies.
In doing so, he has joined Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history to put up at least 65 points, 35 rebounds and 15 blocks in the first three games of a postseason.
Only 4 players since 1973 (when blocks were first recorded) have dropped 65+ PTS, 35+ REB, and 15+ BLK over their first three Playoff games of a postseason.
Davis has some lackluster offensive games from time to time, especially when opponents consistently double-team him, but when he plays the way he did in Game 1 and Game 3, the Lakers are very tough to beat and possibly a legitimate championship contender.
And when those peers honored him with a lifetime achievement award, he couldn’t resist making a joke.
In 2017, during the first annual NBA awards show, the league honored Hall of Fame Boston Celtics big man Bill Russell with a lifetime achievement award. It was presented by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo — all big man legends in their own right. His friend and mentee Abdul-Jabbar spoke on Russell’s legacy.
“Combining a point guard’s quickness with a big man’s size, Bill’s talents refined this sport,” said the Los Angeles Laker legend via NBA on TNT (h/t Sportscasting’s Tim van Straten). “He showed how basketball could be won on the defensive end of the court; using his mind, as well as his body, to outthink and outsmart opponents.”
“Whether it’s his lifetime commitment to civil rights, or his role as founder of MENTOR, a national youth mentoring organization, Bill’s legacy is as profound as it is thrilling,” he added.
Just ahead of Collin Sexton, and just before Gary Trent, Jr., this number might seem a bit low given what Timelord can do when healthy. https://t.co/gcaJlUO8Dk
Russell’s response revolving around an obscene hand gesture followed by an assurance he would kick their (expletive) was legendary.
“Thank you, you have no idea how much respect I have for you guys,” Russell continued. “Because you did it in your own time, in your own way, and I appreciate that. And it made me proud to have played this same game as you guys.”
HoopsHype ranks 25 of the NBA’s GOATS in order of best five-year peaks, as judged by Global Rating and a panel of voters.
After LeBron James beat the scoring record, many started calling him the Longevity GOAT, some in a complimentary manner, others as a way to cop out from calling him the actual GOAT. (For what it’s worth, we still have Michael Jordan first in our own GOAT rankings, but it’s certainly not as easy of a decision as it once was.)
So that got us thinking about which of the NBA’s GOATs had the best five-year peak in NBA history, something we are going to take a look at today.
To determine when exactly each player’s peak took place, we used our own Global Rating Metric and went by each player’s best five continuous seasons.
Afterward, we used a panel of our writers and editors to vote on which five-year peaks by NBA legends were the best.
No. 1 might not come as a surprise but there are some very interesting results on the following list.
After the game in the locker room, his son Bronny showed him the video he took of the shot.
Bronny James shows his dad the video he took of LeBron hitting the record-breaking shot. Sounds like Bronny knew the fade was coming. pic.twitter.com/FtnYKRQu6w
Perhaps what’s most remarkable about James’ accomplishment is the level he’s playing at. Kareem was barely averaging 10 points per game his last year in the league and had been declining for some time.
Meanwhile, James just turned 38 years old but is still averaging over 30 points per game this season. So, LeBron could keep padding his record several more years. There’s a good chance that will happen too – as James has stated he’d like to play on Bronny’s team once he (presumably) reaches the NBA.
Bronny (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) still has another level to get through, though. First he’ll have to decide on his college.
James is currently the highest-ranked uncommitted recruit (and No. 33 overall) in the class of 2023. Recently, he confirmed that his top three schools are Oregon, USC and Ohio State.
Let’s be real, it ain’t happening. But if someone were to break the record, it would be…
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James could very well push that number past 39,000 before the season is over. Before he closes the book on his legendary career, there’s a good chance it goes well beyond 40,000.
Abdul-Jabbar had to play 20 years, averaging 78 games each season to set the original mark. James has also played 20 years, averaging 70 games throughout. He also got a head start coming out of high school. If he plans to play through his age-41 season like Abdul-Jabbar, he has another three years to add to his total.
That’s another reason this record will be so hard to break. Barring a much-needed change to the NBA pipeline, today’s kids can’t jump straight to the league from high school.
So, now that we’re all clear on how extremely unlikely it is for any active players to break the record, let’s talk about the active players who have the best shot.
To begin, the players with the actual best chances are the 19- and 20-year-olds early in their careers with time still on their side. Think Jalen Green, or even rookie Paolo Banchero. But even Banchero, who’s averaging 20 points, is a year older than James was as a rookie and would need to increase his scoring average by more than seven points to keep pace next year. Good luck with that.
As for more seasoned players, they’ll have an even harder time trying to track James because of how age and attrition work for most people not named LeBron James. But if we were to assume today’s players could keep their current scoring averages through their age-40 seasons while playing at least 70 games each year (which we shouldn’t, because none of them will) that gives us three players who would come close.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, 28 years old (32.2 PPG), 15,706 career points
Luka Doncic, 23 years old (33.4 PPG), 8,531 career points
Jayson Tatum, 24 years old (30.9 PPG), 9,218 career points
Doncic and Tatum’s paces leave the most room for their averages to drop or games to be missed over the years, but these are still best case scenarios that remain unlikely to happen. Most players simply don’t play that well into their 40s — if they even want to play that long. The only 40-year-old currently in the league is Udonis Haslem, who hasn’t played meaningful minutes since 2015.
So I hope you enjoyed what James did last night. It was truly historic. You’ll probably never see anything like it again.
— Prince J. Grimes
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Harry How/Getty Images
As one of the biggest moments in sports history, all eyes were on the Lakers-Thunder game in anticipation of James breaking the record. And when he finally did it, towards the end of the third quarter, seemingly everyone in attendance at Crypto.com Arena sprung to their feet in applause.
Well, everyone except James’ own teammate Anthony Davis.
Perhaps his mind was on something else and he just got lost in the moment, briefly forgetting where he was for this slice of history. Maybe he had just received some bad news. He could have been beating himself up about not playing particularly well in a must-win game.
Davis didn’t look particularly healthy or impactful when he was on the court. Maybe there is something that happened that the public doesn’t know about yet. But the optics make this look like an awful lack of support from Davis.”
It’s probably nothing, but like BK said, the optics aren’t great.
Philadelphia 76ers (+155) at Boston Celtics (-4.5, -105), O/U 224.5, 7:30 PM ET
The 76ers are visiting the Celtics for their last of three straight games on the road, and this should be the best one yet. The Sixers are just three games back of Boston for first place in the East, and no team in the conference has been as hot as them other than Milwaukee. Joel Embiid is questionable to play, but as long as he’s active, I think Philly covers as a 4.5-point road dog.
This is best exemplified by Abdul-Jabbar’s eloquent thoughts on LeBron James surpassing him to become the NBA’s all-time scoring champion. Abdul-Jabbar diligently maintains a Substack where he writes about the latest in sports, political issues, and sometimes even his opinions on popular culture.
The Hall and Famer’s latest essay, published the morning after he fell to second place on the all-time scoring list, encapsulates precisely how he feels about James’ mark and what he’s done for the game.
In a few words: he seems very proud of James.
One of the main notes from Abdul-Jabbar’s latest writing is his awareness of how people considered his feelings as James neared the scoring crown. Before maintaining he’d already made his thoughts clear, the icon had a perfect “lottery” metaphor to describe how he viewed James eclipsing him in the record books.
“In the months leading up to LeBron breaking my record, so much was written about how I would feel on the day he sank that record-breaking shot that I had to laugh. I’d already written several times stating exactly how I felt, so there really wasn’t much to speculate about. It’s as if I won a billion dollars in a lottery, and 39 years later, someone won two billion dollars. How would I feel? Grateful that I won and happy that the next person also won. His winning in no way affects my winning.”
What a gracious and entirely expected response from Abdul-Jabbar, who has seldom been shy about leaving the ladder behind for others as a great NBA ambassador. He got his, and so has James, and they’re both happy.
As for how Abdul-Jabbar feels about being supplanted from the scoring title in general, he doesn’t appear broken up about it at all. Some things are just so much bigger than basketball.
“If I had a choice of having my scoring record remain intact for another hundred years or spend one afternoon with my grandchildren, I’d be on the floor in seconds stacking Legos and eating Uncrustables.”
Read more on Abdul-Jabbar’s thoughts on James, their relationship, and a historic night for the NBA on his Substack.
If there was any beef between NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal — real, perceived, anywhere in between — it’s gone now.
After LeBron James broke Abdul-Jabbar’s record for most points in a career, the center got on TNT to speak with the Inside the NBA crew and had a specific message for O’Neal: Abdul-Jabbar mentioned that Shaq felt that the legend was “ashamed of you or ignoring you,” and that wasn’t the case.
“I’m on your side Shaq,” he added. “Don’t ever let anybody tell you anything different.”
And O’Neal took it well: “Listen, you not speaking to me was the best thing that happened to my career because all I ever wanted to do was impress you, sir.”
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) February 8, 2023
Shaq went on to explain what this was all about: He thought the center didn’t like him and took some criticism from Abdul-Jabbar as motivation before the legend pulled him aside and said he loved Shaq.
LeBron James made history that won’t be broken again
We’re always looking for what’s next. Everybody either wants to be the next thing or they want to be in the know of what’s coming next.
Most of us grew up with that. Everyone wanted to be “like Mike.” But since most of us could never actually be Michael Jordan, everyone wanted to know who the next one was that possibly could.
We found him, folks. It was LeBron James. The dude has had every single expectation laid in his lap since he was 16 years old and, not only has he met them, he’s surpassed most of them in just about every single way.
It’s another feather in his cap that has easily become one of the most decorated in NBA history. And this feather won’t be removed easily, nor will it happen anytime soon.
There are so many reasons why this just won’t happen again. Think about it.
The first issue is health. It took Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20 seasons to get to 38,387 points. It took LeBron another 20 seasons along with 2,237 3-pointers to just catch up to Kareem here. Longevity is a prerequisite for this. Just look at all the names LeBron has passed.
LeBron James needs 36 points tonight to become the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. Here’s a complete list of all the players he will have passed along the way. pic.twitter.com/fmFr4bdQPd
There’s a lot of good injury luck that goes into playing that long and most players don’t have it. The players who are coming won’t get it. There’s a reason only 10 players in league history have played at least 20 seasons.
And even once you have that longevity, there’s still the scoring clip that you’ve got to worry about.
From that group, only James, Abdul-Jabbar and Dirk Nowitzki have eclipsed the 30,000-point mark. That’s a requirement for the next player who has a shot here.
Here’s a quick look at James’ journey to being the point total leader, via a graphic from Sportico. Just take a look at how good you have to perform per minute to get here.
.@KingJames is on the precipice of breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 for the most points in NBA history.
Most players won’t get to be that good. It’s just simple math.
A player has to keep a consistent scoring pace of around 2,000 points per season or more over a 20-year span to get to LeBron’s 38,390. That’s around 25 points per game over an 82-game span, but no one plays 82 games anymore. So you’re getting up to 27 and 28 points per game through an entire career.
We very rarely see that. Only 13 players in league history have averaged at least 25 points per game throughout their careers. And, of those players, only six have more than 1,000 games logged.
Then, there’s also this fact: LeBron James is still going. The dude broke Kareem’s record, but he didn’t retire. He still seems to think he has a few good years left in him so long as his “mind is in it.”
Let’s say he plays another two seasons and scores around 1,500 points per year, which is just 25 points per game over a 60-game stretch, that could push the record close to 42,000. That’s a lot of points, man.
Look, I’ve made it a habit to never say never. Look at where we are. No one thought LeBron would be here, either.
The NBA could add a 4-point line someday. Or there could be another phenom around the corner that just does everything I literally just said couldn’t be done while also hitting 4,000 3-pointers in their career. We’ll see.
Just don’t hold your breath while looking for who could possibly be next. You’re not going to find them.
