Does LeBron have any shot at becoming the all-time leading scorer?

[D.J.]

Current list so far:


1)Kareem- 38,387
2)Malone- 36,928
3)Kobe- 33,643
4)Jordan- 32,292
5)Wilt- 31,419
6)Dirk- 29,491
7)Shaq- 28,596
8)Moses Malone- 27,409
9)Elvin Hayes- 27,313
10)Hakeem- 26,496
11)LeBron- 26,833


Next year he should get to 7. If he's healthy the next 3 years and still maintains elite scoring, he shouldn't have much difficulty getting to #3. The question is, can he play long enough and stay healthy and elite long enough to jump Malone and Kareem?

[GINOBILI!]

His challenge will be ability to score once his athleticism declines.

[theaussieguy]

nup, writing is on the wall. His scoring is going down the sh!tter

[ImKobe]

Current list so far:


1)Kareem- 38,387
2)Malone- 36,928
3)Kobe- 33,643
4)Jordan- 32,292
5)Wilt- 31,419
6)Dirk- 29,491
7)Shaq- 28,596
8)Moses Malone- 27,409
9)Elvin Hayes- 27,313
10)Hakeem- 26,496
11)LeBron- 26,833


Next year he should get to 7. If he's healthy the next 3 years and still maintains elite scoring, he shouldn't have much difficulty getting to #3. The question is, can he play long enough and stay healthy and elite long enough to jump Malone and Kareem?

He might not even get to 7

this year he had 1920 points after playing 76 games, he had 1700 points the previous year when he had back issues and fatigue, with his added mileage and him only being able to average 24 ppg in 38 minutes in the Playoffs his scoring is due to drop every year, plus injuries will pile up at some point. It happened to Kobe. It happened to MJ when he came back. Lebron is a heavy guy he's going to have some down years after all these empty Playoff runs.

He isn't going to pass Kareem. He needs 11554 points

Let's say he plays 20 total seasons (7 more seasons after this), let's say he averages to 70 games a year, that's 490 games to score 11554 points to tie Kareem's total. He needs to average 23.5 ppg over the next 7 seasons if he plays an average of 70 games a year (meaning no injuries, basically). I don't see it happening if his jump shot doesn't improve. He isn't going to be averaging 20+ points in his late 30s with his current skillset.

[NBAGOAT]

no it's going be really unlikely. Kareem and Malone had like 23ppg seasons at 37 and 38 which is what he would need. You can't expect that shit out of any player. 35k seems like a pretty attainable mark howeve. around 9k points with lebron getting 1500-2000 for 3-4 years and then just not retiring for awhile.

[GINOBILI!]

He might not even get to 7

this year he had 1920 points after playing 76 games, he had 1700 points the previous year when he had back issues and fatigue, with his added mileage and him only being able to average 24 ppg in 38 minutes in the Playoffs his scoring is due to drop every year, plus injuries will pile up at some point. It happened to Kobe. It happened to MJ when he came back. Lebron is a heavy guy he's going to have some down years after all these empty Playoff runs.

He isn't going to pass Kareem. He needs 11554 points

Let's say he plays 20 total seasons (7 more seasons after this), let's say he averages to 70 games a year, that's 490 games to score 11554 points to tie Kareem's total. He needs to average 23.5 ppg over the next 7 seasons if he plays an average of 70 games a year (meaning no injuries, basically). I don't see it happening if his jump shot doesn't improve. He isn't going to be averaging 20+ points in his late 30s with his current skillset.
Only way he doesn't get to #7 is if he has a career ending injury in the next year.

[Hoopz2332]

of course he does:biggums:

[aj1987]

He might not even get to 7

this year he had 1920 points after playing 76 games, he had 1700 points the previous year when he had back issues and fatigue, with his added mileage and him only being able to average 24 ppg in 38 minutes in the Playoffs his scoring is due to drop every year, plus injuries will pile up at some point. It happened to Kobe. It happened to MJ when he came back. Lebron is a heavy guy he's going to have some down years after all these empty Playoff runs.

He isn't going to pass Kareem. He needs 11554 points

Let's say he plays 20 total seasons (7 more seasons after this), let's say he averages to 70 games a year, that's 490 games to score 11554 points to tie Kareem's total. He needs to average 23.5 ppg over the next 7 seasons if he plays an average of 70 games a year (meaning no injuries, basically). I don't see it happening if his jump shot doesn't improve. He isn't going to be averaging 20+ points in his late 30s with his current skillset.
:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Chokebe stans should just be barred from discussing basketball.

[Mr Feeny]

It all depends on how long he plays and whether he can avoid injuries.
I think he's more likely to end up with 35 k, 9 k, 9 k.
If he doesn't care about declining and decides to play for another 8 years,he'll almost definitely break it and get 40, 8 , 8. But that's not happening.

If I had to guess, he'll play 4 more years max and then retire and get into his brand and movies.

[PP34Deuce]

Lebron has never cared about being a leading scorer. He just happens to score 25-28 PPG.

He's not touching Kareem or Kobe. He will certainly be in the 30,000 club.

The next 3-4 years of Lebron have me thinking you will see Magic like numbers. 20-21PPG 8-9rebounds 8 assists with defense. Kyrie is going to be leading the scoring I believe.

[Trollsmasher]

He is like 4k ahead of where Kareem was at his age

If he plays until 38 and his scoring output keeps declining by 0.5 ppg a year he can do it

People have been saying he will turn into Magic for several years now but his scoring output has only declined because of broken jumpshot. The Finals have showed he can still score at will on just his athleticism alone and he becomes unstoppable if his shot is falling.

[kamil]

If he keeps using the stiff-arm, yeah, he'll make it. We all know he's NEVER going to get called for it.

[K Xerxes]

Lebron has never cared about being a leading scorer. He just happens to score 25-28 PPG.

He's not touching Kareem or Kobe. He will certainly be in the 30,000 club.

The next 3-4 years of Lebron have me thinking you will see Magic like numbers. 20-21PPG 8-9rebounds 8 assists with defense. Kyrie is going to be leading the scoring I believe.

He's catching Kobe barring a serious injury

[Lebron23]

all time regular season. playoffs, and finals scorer. LeBron have a good chance of being number 1 at the end of his career.

[TomCat]

He is like 4k ahead of where Kareem was at his age

If he plays until 38 and his scoring output keeps declining by 0.5 ppg a year he can do it

People have been saying he will turn into Magic for several years now but his scoring output has only declined because of broken jumpshot. The Finals have showed he can still score at will on just his athleticism alone and he becomes unstoppable if his shot is falling.

He does not score at will.

Kyrie was the only one who could make a shot in the last 7 minutes.

At will means. Automatic = Not Bran

[jlip]

Does he have a shot at it?- Yes

Will he reach it?- I doubt it. I can see him maybe passing Kobe for 3rd ending with ~35,000 pts.

[Indian guy]

The next 3-4 years of Lebron have me thinking you will see Magic like numbers. 20-21PPG 8-9rebounds 8 assists with defense.

People have been saying this since the summer of 2010, right after he joined Miami. I don't understand where this talk comes from. Yes, LeBron does a lot of things well, but scoring is still what he does best and more importantly, likes to do best. This is why he's always among the league leaders in ppg, irregardless of what's around him. Be it a sh!tty team, a loaded team or even Team USA. We have 13 years of solid proof that he likes to score. A lot. That's not going to magically change overnight. If he preferred being some 20-point nightly triple double guy, it would've happened long ago.

[k0kakw0rld]

nup, writing is on the wall. His scoring is going down the sh!tter
He is saving himself for the playoffs, when it matters the most. Still averaged 25 ppg :applause:

[aj1987]

He does not score at will.

Kyrie was the only one who could make a shot in the last 7 minutes.

At will means. Automatic = Not Bran
Actually, LeBron scored 9 of the teams 12 points in the last 7 minutes.

Stick to your original account, warriorfag.

[Clifton]

This is a player who took 2 weeks off while the season was in session to hang out in Miami because his back was aching. He's not going to be playing at Kobe's age. No way.

No, Lebron will retire young. He will retire before he slips out of the top 3 players in the league. Perhaps he falls as low as top 5.

He's part of a new business-minded generation. He has no interest in being a fringe all-star. Play just long enough to cement your legacy, ride off into the sunset with a body that's not broken and a legacy that's untainted.

[aj1987]

This is a player who took 2 weeks off while the season was in session to hang out in Miami because his back was aching. He's not going to be playing at Kobe's age. No way.

No, Lebron will retire young. He will retire before he slips out of the top 3 players in the league. Perhaps he falls as low as top 5.

He's part of a new business-minded generation. He has no interest in being a fringe all-star. Play just long enough to cement your legacy, ride off into the sunset with a body that's not broken and a legacy that's untainted.
How do you cement your legacy shooting 36%?

Also, how is Kobe not money/business minded? The guy basically ruined the Lakers' last two seasons with his ridiculous contract. At least LeBron is willing to take a pay-cut, if it means the team can improve.

It might be another 3-4 seasons by the time LeBron slips out of the top 5. By then, he'd have already played 16-17 seasons. Not bad. End your career as a top 5 player after 16-17 seasons. Has anyone actually ever done that? Malone wasn't top 5 in '01 and KAJ wasn't in '85.

[greymatter]

He'll be 32 one month into the next season. He won't play more than 75 games a season to finish his career because he's going to be rested several games throughout a season. His scoring will only go down. Likely not going to see him averaging over 25 for the remainder of his career. Expect about 1600-1800 per season for 3-4 more years. He's not going to come anywhere close unless he has some silly need to play 3-4 years WAAAAY past his prime (age 36-40).

Barring significant injury, I expect that Lebron might play 2 seasons tops into the "no-longer-an-AS-caliber-player-but-voted-in-anyway" part of his career before he calls it quits. Realistically, that would likely mean he retires somewhere around age 38-39.

If he can maintain playing 70-75 games per season until age 39, he'll probably finish at around 36-37k points.

In short, Lebron getting the all time scoring title is almost certainly within range so long as he stays injury free and plays until he's 40-41. The bottom line is whether or not he really wants to keep playing until that age.

[warriorfan]

Depends if and how strictly the league enforces an anti-PED policy

[Papaya Petee]

After this season hes going to sign something like a 5 year 227 million dollar deal. That gives you 6 seasons.

6 seasons 70 games a year = 420 games times 23 PPG= 9660

To be honest Im estimating low. I think itll be closer to 10,000 points so at least 36k.

[SouBeachTalents]

I think he'll finish 3rd all time, ending his career with 34-35K points

[bizil]

Two things Kareem had going for him was being able to dominate in the paint AND having Magic making him better in his later years. Hell Cap averaged 23.4 points at 38 years of age because of those factors. Magic commanded a double team and Worthy could command one too. So Kareem was in an ideal situation all the way around.

As Bron ages, he could easily move to the PF exclusively. BUT he's not 7'2 like Kareem. And chances are he won't have the supporting cast Kareem had. So ITS NOT ABOUT Bron falling off a huge deal. He could age great like Kareem and Mailman. BUT it's more about the situation he's going to be in.

To be frank, I think MJ was THE GUY who actually had the best shot. If MJ NEVER RETIRED and played until he was 40, I think he gets Kareem. Even when MJ retired in 1998, he was still the best player in the world at 35 years of age. At 36 and 37, at worst he would have slipped to top 5. Then as we saw with the Wizards, he was still capable of scoring over 20 points a night when he was 39 and 40.

[bizil]

I DO THINK Bron will end up with the best all around statistics of all time. Even if he doesn't pass Kareem by. The stat line Bron could put up will be absolutely staggering. Nobody will be close to his all around numbers when it's said and done. We could be talking 33-35,000, 9-10,000 assists, and 8-9,000 rebounds.

[J Shuttlesworth]

He does not score at will.

Kyrie was the only one who could make a shot in the last 7 minutes.

At will means. Automatic = Not Bran
LeBron had 9 pts in the last 7 minutes. WTF are you talking about? 9 pts > 3 pts

[tanibanana]

I strongly believe he'll surpass Malone but not Kareem.
But who knows, perhaps once he surpass Malone people around him will be aware of the possibility of LBJ taking the all-time total scores and they might keep feeding him. That will definitely help.

[Mr Feeny]

Lebron has never cared about being a leading scorer. He just happens to score 25-28 PPG.

He's not touching Kareem or Kobe. He will certainly be in the 30,000 club.

The next 3-4 years of Lebron have me thinking you will see Magic like numbers. 20-21PPG 8-9rebounds 8 assists with defense. Kyrie is going to be leading the scoring I believe.

You do realise that if he scored 20 ppg over the next 3 years, he's comfortably reaching 30 k points?
If he averages 25 ppg or if he plays an additional year, he's leaving Kobe in dust while playing less seasons.