LeBron James is the greatest scorer in NBA history – 02/08/2023 – Sports

No one has scored more points in NBA history than LeBron James. The 38-year-old star reached on Tuesday night (7), at dawn on Wednesday in Brazilian territory, the top ranking of the scorers of the North American basketball league.

The forward now has 38,390 points, recorded with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers jerseys. And he set the record defending the Lakers, just as Kareem had done in 1984.

It was almost four decades before Abdul-Jabbar was overcome. The center, who did damage with a legendary hook, ended his extensive career with 38,387 points, in 1989, at the age of 41.

The numbers, following the American statistical tradition, take into account only the matches of what is called the “regular season”, the NBA’s qualifying phase. Excluded from the accounting commonly adopted in the United States are the playoff games, the knockout matches, which are even more important.

Included in the calculation the journeys of the decisive stage, LeBron also leads. He already led. Now it has 46,021, against 44,149 for Kareem, who played for the Milwaukee Bucks before making a season in Los Angeles.

James surpassed him with a long and –still– consistently productive career. In his 20th season in the NBA, the man born in tiny Akron, Ohio, continues to show impressive averages that don’t boil down to putting the ball in the net. In the 2022/23 tournament, he has been posting 30 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game – until Tuesday’s duel.

Efficiency is not always matched by its peers. The 17-time champion Los Angeles Lakers are ranked 13th in the Western Conference. With 25 wins and 30 losses, it has the 24th best campaign among the 30 teams that dispute the championship.

The 38 points scored against the Oklahoma City Thunder on record-breaking night were not worth a win. At Crypo.com Arena, in Los Angeles, the hosts had a bad defensive journey and lost by 133 to 130.

LeBron is still defying the reality of the leaderboard – and Lakers management, irritated by the signing policy – by saying he can be champion again. Even if he doesn’t reach the penta, the four-time NBA champion will continue to expand the newly established record.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to play for at least a few more years.”

Applause from (and for) the Captain

LeBron James broke the record on a shot from the top of the key late in the third quarter. The match was stopped so that the star player could receive the applause and be embraced by people like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar himself.

A ten-minute ceremony was held in the gymnasium, led by NBA chief Commissioner Adam Silver. Kareem handed LeBron a ball, as if passing him the throne of the greatest scorer in league history.

James asked for applause for Captain, as Abdul-Jabbar was called on his way to five-time champion for the Lakers. And he thanked his family, present in the arena. “Without you, none of this would be possible”, he said, moved.