What LeBron passing Kareem means for NBA, GOAT debate

It’s aboutto happen. LeBron James is finally on the brink of passing KareemAbdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s career scoring record, the torch gettingpassed from one member of the Los Angeles Lakers to another.

James is 35points away from Abdul-Jabbar’s total of 38,387. The record-breakercould come as early as Tuesday when the Lakers host the OklahomaCity Thunder or Thursday in Los Angeles against the MilwaukeeBucks.

Here’s thesignificance of James passing Abdul-Jabbar:

WILL THIS RECORD BE BROKEN AGAIN?

Perhaps,but no time soon.

James is onpace to eclipse the 40,000-point mark next season and is undercontract for one more season after that as well. And even thenthere’s no guarantee that he won’t continue playing; he has saidmany times he would like to stay in the NBA long enough for hisson, LeBron James Jr. — he goes by “Bronny” — to get to the league,something that won’t happen until 2024-25 at the earliest.

The closestplayer currently in the NBA to James on the all-time list isBrooklyn’s Kevin Durant, who has 26,684 points. Durant wouldprobably have to play at least another six or seven seasons just tocatch Abdul-Jabbar’s mark — and who knows how far James will raisethe bar by then.

Philadelphia’s James Harden and the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook arejust 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 manypoints for another 14 seasons or so before he gets to the38,000-point mark.

So unlessthe NBA adds a 10-point shot, the record won’t be broken for avery, very, very long time.

HOWDID JAMES GET TO THIS POINT?

Jamesentered the NBA straight out of high school; Abdul-Jabbar had acollege career before he was eligible to join the league. James was18 when he scored his first NBA points; Abdul-Jabbar was 22.

It tookAbdul-Jabbar 20 seasons to get to 38,387. James will catch him inhis 20th season.

James hasbeen durable, especially over the first three-quarters of hiscareer. He missed only 71 games in his first 15 seasons. Sincejoining the Lakers 4-1/2 seasons ago, he has missed nearly 100games. But he has always avoided major injury; part of that is justgood luck, but much of it is because he reportedly invests morethan $1 million annually on his body.

For almostthe entirety of James’ career, keeping The King fit has fallen onthe shoulders of Mike Mancias, one of the most-trusted members ofJames’ inner circle. Mancias never wants any credit for his work;he shuns limelight the way James blows pastdefenders.Butin 2019, when James was revealed as The Associated Press’ maleathlete of the decadefor the 2010′s, Mancias shed a tinybit of light on James’ work ethic.

“He doeswhatever it takes when it comes to fulfilling his commitments toeverything,” Mancias said, “especially his game and his craft.”

DIDN’T JAMES BREAK THE RECORD LAST YEAR?

OfficialNBA records are based solely on regular season games. Playoff gamesare in their own category. That’s why the record, for almost 39years now, has been Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387 points. But whenadding postseason games to that total, Abdul-Jabbar actuallyretired with 44,149 points.

And that’sthe figure James — again, when adding in his playoff points —eclipsed on Feb. 12, 2022, in a Lakers loss against the GoldenState Warriors. So while that is “a” record, it’s not “the”record.

DOES THIS SETTLE THE ‘GOAT’ DEBATE?

For thoseunfamiliar with the acronym, ‘GOAT’ is shorthand for Greatest OfAll Time.

James mayvery well be the GOAT, based on his longevity, his accomplishments,how no one in NBA history has been so hard to stop for 20 years andcounting. Abdul-Jabbar should be in the conversation as well; hissky hook — a one-handed shot released high over his head,impossible for any defender to stop without the use of a stepladder— is one of the most dominant weapons basketball has ever seen.

MichaelJordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls on his wayto becoming a global icon and might have been the greatestcompetitor in the sport’s history. Golden State’s Stephen Curry isthe most prolific 3-point shooter the game has ever seen and stillgoing strong. The Lakers’ Magic Johnson and Boston’s Larry Bird hada rivalry that brought them both multiple championships and mighthave saved the NBA in the 1980′s. San Antonio’s Tim Duncan spentnearly two decades in the league and was maybe the mostfundamentally solid player ever.

WiltChamberlain scored 100 points in a game and once averaged 50 for anentire season. Kobe Bryant had an 81-point game, finished with fivechampionships and spent years being simply unstoppable. And BillRussell won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics.

This recorddoesn’t even settle the debate on greatest scorer ever. James ispassing Abdul-Jabbar for the most points — but Jordan stillaveraged the most, his 30.12 per game pace over the entirety of hiscareer ranking just ahead of Chamberlain’s 30.07. James averagesaround 27 per game; Abdul-Jabbar averaged around 25.

The answerto the GOAT debate is there isn’t one. There are many. Personalpreference prevails.