7 players who played against both Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James / News - Basketnews.com

There are seven players who played both against Kareem and LeBron - Reggie Miller, Kevin Willis, Olden Polynice, Horace Grant, Mark Jackson, Avery Johnson, and Rod Strickland.

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar started his NBA career, LeBron James' mom was only a 1-year-old baby. The two players are now in the global basketball conversation as the current Los Angeles Lakers player is set to overtake the former Laker legend on the all-time scoring list.

LeBron James

MIN:36.49PTS:30 (56.09%)REB:8.49As:7.12ST:0.93BL:0.58TO:3.12GM:43ProfileNBA2022/2023

Abdul-Jabbar played his first NBA game on October 18th, 1969 when he was 22 years old. When he ended his career, LeBron James was only 4 years old. James is currently in his 20th season in the league in the year 2023, marking almost a 54-year difference between the dates.

However, there are seven players who managed to play against both the no. 1 all-time scorer in the NBA and the player immediately below him.

The best-known of them is Reggie Miller, an Indiana Pacers legend and a renowned sharpshooter who was once the all-time leader in three-pointers made in the NBA. Miller played 3 games against Abdul-Jabbar and matched up 7 times against James. James averaged 24.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.4 steals in those games, while Kareem registered 13.7 points and 5.7 rebounds and 41 years of age.

The player with the most appearances against both players is Olden Polynice, who played just one game against LeBron but 15 against Kareem. The story of him playing against James is fascinating by itself.

When James was drafted in 2003, Polynice was already out of the NBA. He hadn't played in either the 2001-02 or 2002-03 seasons. Instead, he was out playing in China. Interestingly, Polynice, being 39 years old, returned to the NBA in the middle of the 2003-04 season to play for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Polynice played just two games in his last season and totaled just 11 minutes of playing time. It so happens that 8 of those minutes were against rookie LeBron James. What's more, LeBron scored only 4 points (6 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL) in that game in 34 minutes, shooting just 2-for-13 from the field. It was James' second lowest-scoring game in his entire 20-year career.

Los Angeles Lakers / Schedule

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Only four players played more than one game against both Abdul-Jabbar and James. Out of them, Kevin Willis was the most unlucky as both James and Abdul-Jabbar had the highest averages against him.

NBA players who played against both Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James:

Reggie Miller (7 vs James, 3 vs Abdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 24.9 PTS, 5.4 REB, 4.3 AST, 1.4 STL Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 13.7 PTS, 5.7 REB Kevin Willis (5 vs James, 8 vs Abdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 27 PTS, 7.6 REB, 5.2 AST, 1.6 STL Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 18.6 PTS, 6.3 REB, 3 AST Olden Polynice (1 vsJames, 15 vsAbdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 4 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL in 34 minutes, 2/13 FG, 5 TO Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 8.6 PTS, 4.8 REB, 2 AST Horace Grant (2 vsJames, 4 vsAbdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 24 PTS, 4.5 REB, 5.5 AST Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 10.5 PTS, 4 REB Mark Jackson (1 vsJames, 4 vsAbdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 11 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 5/18 FG Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 16 PTS, 4.5 REB, 2.5 AST Avery Johnson (1 vsJames, 8 vsAbdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 29 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 7.25 PTS, 4.1 REB Rod Strickland (4 vsJames, 2 vsAbdul-Jabbar) LeBron James - 23.5 PTS, 5.3 REB, 4 AST, 1.5 STL Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 13 PTS, 3.5 REB, 3.5 AST

All stats are taken from StatHead.com.

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