It always seems impossible until it’s done by LeBron.
It’s only a matter of time before LeBron James officially eclipses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 37,387 NBA all-time scoring record. Kareem became the league’s top career scorer in 1984 and hasn’t relinquished it almost four decades later. The feat really seemed untouchable, but The King has timelessly proven that he excels in beating the odds (and also making good memes).
Before the eventual takeover as scoring king, LeBron made another record when he passed Mark Jackson and Steve Nash for the fourth spot in the all-time assist ladder in the Los Angeles Lakers’ overtime win against the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
As of writing, LBJ has 10,338 assists behind Chris Paul with 11,246 (and counting), Jason Kidd with 12,091, and John Stockton with 15,806.
Now it seems a little too far ahead but can James become both the assist and scoring leader of the league? We did the numbers so you won’t have to.
LeBron averages 7.3 assists per game for his career, and he is dishing out 7.1 dimes this season. Assuming he continues to do that with 30 more games to go, LBJ will finish with more or less 10,500 total assists this year.
With the presumption again that The King can have the same averages for years to come, he can catch up to Kidd’s no. 2 spot in three more seasons or until he is 41 years old.
Now, is it possible to beat Stockton’s 15,806 career assists? LeBron, as superhuman as he seems, will need nine more seasons to completely erase the Utah Jazz legend’s numbers. Not saying it’s impossible, but chances are close to zero.