The record-breaker could come as early as Tuesday when the Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder or Thursday in Los Angeles against the Milwaukee Bucks. Here’s the significance of James passing Abdul-Jabbar:WILL THIS RECORD BE BROKEN AGAIN? Perhaps, but no time soon. James is on pace to eclipse the 40, 000-point mark next season and is under contract for one more season after that as well. And even then there’s no guarantee that he won’t continue playing; he has said many times he would like to stay in the NBA long enough for his son, LeBron James Jr. — he goes by “Bronny” — to get to the league, something that won’t happen until 2024-25 at the earliest. The closest player currently in the NBA to James on the all-time list is Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, who has 26, 684 points. Durant would probably have to play at least another six or seven seasons just to catch Abdul-Jabbar’s mark — and who knows how far James will raise the bar by then.
Philadelphia’s James Harden and the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook are just over 24, 000 points apiece. Both of them are all-time greats, but they’re not going to catch James. Dallas’ Luka Doncic is averaging 27. 4 points per game so far in his career. But for as great as Doncic is, he’ll need to average that many points for another 14 seasons or so before he gets to the 38, 000-point mark. So unless the NBA adds a 10-point shot, the record won’t be broken for a very, very, very long time. HOW DID JAMES GET TO THIS POINT? James entered the NBA straight out of high school; Abdul-Jabbar had a college career before he was eligible to join the league.
Watch LeBron James try to set NBA scoring record vs. Thunder live for free (2/7/23)LeBron James needs 36 points to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record on Tuesday night as the Los Angeles Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tipoff is at 10 p. m. Eastern. WATCH LIVE FOR FREE: DirecTV Stream (FREE trial); Hulu + Live TV (FREE trial). Also, Sling TV has promotional offers. James got closer to the record on Saturday night in the Lakers’ 131-126 loss to the Pelicans.
He had 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss. Who: Oklahoma City Thunder (25-28) at Los Angeles Lakers (25-29). When: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. Time: 10 p. Where; Crypto. com Arena, Los Angeles (19, 068). TV: TNT. Cable channel finder: AT&T U-Verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, Cox, DIRECTV, Dish, Verizon Fios, WOW. Live streams: Sling TV (promotional offers); DirecTV Stream (free trial); Hulu + Live TV (free trial). Latest line: Lakers -6.
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