LeBron James sets NBA record for strength and durability – 02/08/2023 – Sports

LeBron James is the greatest scorer in NBA history. A record set with a long and consistently productive career.

The 38-year-old star is in his 20th season in the North American Basketball League and is still posting impressive numbers. His 30.2 points per game in the 2022/23 season is the third highest of his career, which is averaging 27.2 overall.

On Tuesday night (7), in the early hours of Wednesday in Brazilian time, he scored 38. It was not enough for the limping Los Angeles Lakers to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it gave them the historic artillery of the competition.

The forward now has 38,390 points, recorded with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers jerseys. And reached the mark defending the formation of Los Angeles, as well as the previous record holder, in 1984.

It was almost four decades before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was surpassed. 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 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, compared to 44,149 for Kareem, who played for the Milwaukee Bucks before making his season on the west coast.

Since the retirement of Abdul-Jabbar –who handed a ball to the new owner of the throne shortly after being surpassed, in a ceremony held with the game stopped–, no one had really been close to reaching him.

Karl Malone (36,928) was the closest. The legendary Kobe Bryant (33,643) and Michael Jordan (32,292), respectively in fourth and fifth place in the ranking, did not threaten the old center.

James achieved the feat with something that Bryant and Jordan did not: a trajectory without serious injuries or interruptions. It’s been almost 20 years of rare but serious physical problems and an incredibly long-lasting muscular explosion, recognized since the debut.

Physically stable, he also sustained a high point average, with no hiccups, from the first game, aged 18. There were 25 in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ loss to the Sacramento Kings on October 29, 2003.

First choice in the “draft”, freshman recruitment system, LeBron left school straight to the professional league, which became prohibited from 2005. With 2.06 m tall and evident physical strength, he was elected rookie of the year with 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.

Even with such numbers, he received criticism for not having a good long-distance throw, which would limit his game. In his rookie season, he averaged just 0.8 three-pointers per game on 2.7 attempts, an efficiency of 29%.

In the second year, the use rose to 35%, in 3.9 attempts. The career average is 34.5%. Reasonable number. It does not come close, for example, to the spectacular 42.8% of Stephen Curry. But it helps to keep the defenses honest, without the possibility of waiting for the ace in the paint. With the markers closer, he overtakes them towards the basket with greater ease.

The increase in the frequency of shots from distance is in line with the transformation that the NBA itself has undergone in this century. The three-point shot became a priority in offensive strategies, and even the tallest and heaviest players, who were previously stuck to the side of the basket, had to develop this skill.

James was able to maintain his batting average while raising the number of long-range attempts. In January of this year, against the Los Angeles Clippers, the veteran made his match with the most converted three-balls in his career: nine.

The Ohio man knew how to adapt to stay on top. While he increased the volume of three balls while maintaining the advantage, he improved the hit rate near the table. In his rookie season, for example, he shot 43.8% on twos. In the current one, he has 59.3%.

Two-time champion with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, he returned to Cleveland to triumph with the Cavaliers in 2016. Then he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, again showing his ability to adapt. In the 2020 title, he actively took on the role of guard, registering 10.2 assists per game.

His career average is 7.3 assists per duel. James was never considered a “pure scorer”, someone who had scoring as a priority. His 7.5 rebounds per game also help build the figure of a complete player who was never just about scoring. But he scored a lot.