The old adage “all records are meant to be broken” has rung true as it pertains to the NBA’s all-time scoring tally. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished up with 38,387 points in 1989, nobody would have predicted a player nearing his record, let alone surpassing it.
Yet, LeBron James created a near 2,000-point separation from “Cap” over the weekend by reaching the 40,000-point mark.
While James hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, he will eventually retire from the sport, leaving the next generation to chase his record.
So, who will be the one to threaten the mark? Anthony Davis, a teammate of James, was asked the question after the Lakers’ loss to the Nuggets.
“The next to get to 40,000? You’d think it’s going to be a young guy… or possibly Steph [Curry] the way he shoots the ball,” Davis responded. “But [if] it’s not… it’s just tough because he [James] hasn’t finished playing. So, it’s only going to increase, and the gap is going to get bigger and bigger…Right now, I don’t see anyone breaking his record.”
Davis’ Curry pick is a perplexing one, considering the Warriors star is still 31st on the all-time list with 23,258 points. Curry, who spent three years in college, didn’t register a 20-point per game season until his fourth year in the NBA. As such, he was a relatively late bloomer.
For the sake of argument, Luka Doncic probably has the best shot of eventually catching up to James. Doncic, who’s averaging 28.5 points per game for his career, reached the 10,000 mark back in December in fewer games than James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant.
According to a projection by Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach, Doncic would reach the 40,000-point mark by 2039 if he can sustain his current scoring pace. He would be 40.
Can anyone really bet against Doncic or a future star surpassing James? The easy answer would be, “No.” But that’s probably what most said about Abdul-Jabbar’s record three decades ago.
