As we head into the beginning of January, Lakers’ superstar LeBron James (37,903 points) sits just 484 points behind tying Kareem Abdul Jabbar (38,387 points) as the league’s all-time NBA scorer.
That means the 38-year-old James (29,0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 6.6 apg) will likely be breaking Kareem’s all-time NBA mark and making it the LeBron James scoring record probably next month.
Averaging almost 30 points per game right now (29.0), James would achieve this feat 16 or 17 games from now (484 points divided by 29.0 ppg average = 16.7 games) If he played every single game on the Lakers (17-21) schedule from this point forward. But he won’t.
NBA All-Time Scoring Leaders By Seasons Played #NBA pic.twitter.com/snpzVWx80f
— NBA Charts (@NBA_Charts) April 2, 2019
BetOnline has an interesting LeBron James prop bet on how the future NBA Hall of Famer will be setting the NBA scoring record, with the conventional 2 point shot the betting favorite at -275 odds.
James, who has a career pace of 27.2 ppg, broke the NBA Scoring record for the Playoffs in February and is definitely a threat to break the record with a 3 -pointer (+525) from behind the arc. Lakers fans will be wanting him to break the NBA scoring record at Home.
Here are the current odds from NBA betting online site BetOnline on how LeBron James will score that historic 38,388th points to eclipse Kareem in the coming weeks.
James has played in 1,395 games in his 20-year NBA career and gone 7,960 for 10,838 on his Free Throw Attempts (FTA) for a 73.4% average playing for the Cavaliers, Heat, and the Lakers, one of the same teams NBA scoring leader Abdul Jabbar also played for.
How Will LeBron James Break the All-Time NBA Points Record?
- 2 Point Shot -275
- Free Throw +325
- 3 Point Shot +525
About Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Few men on this planet have been blessed to be in the basketball sphere of legends John Wooden and Magic Johnson, but the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, for now, Kareem Abdul Jabbar was one of them.
Kareem was a collegiate star at UCLA and played under his real name of Lew Alcindor to start as the Wizard of Westwood Wooden taught the young man the basketball and life ropes.
Jabbar only scored 3 of his record 38,387 points on 3-pointers as he made only one 3-point attempt in his NBA career and that wasn’t a big part of the game. For Kareem, the dunk and the Sky Hook were his preferred ways of racking up the points.
Behind Akron, Ohio native LeBron on the NBA All Time Scoring leaders list are some pretty great names:
NBA’s All-Time Scoring Leaders
- 1—Kareen Abdul Jabbar38,387
- 2—LeBron James 37,903
- 3—Karl Malone 36,928
- 4—Kobe Bryant 33,643
- 5—Michael Jordan 32,292
- 6—Dirk Nowitzki, 31,560
- 7—Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
- 8—Shaquille O’Neal 28,596
- 9—Carmelo Anthony 28,289
- 10—Moses Malone 27,409
🏀 @NBA All-Time Scoring Leaders 🏀 pic.twitter.com/5ecCSpFT2O
— . (@Twitugal) March 20, 2022
Record May Come at NO or vs. OKC or Bucks at Home
Looking at the 16th game from now for the Lakers, we find a Saturday, February 4 (10:30 EST/7:30 PST) date at Home against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans on the schedule.
But that would mean he would have to play every one of those 15 preceding games and average around 30 ppg to get to that end.
On Thursday February 2, and 15 games from now, LeBron and the Lakers will be in Naptown to play the Pacers.
17 or 18 games from now seems like the sweet spot when LBJ and the Lakers welcome the Thunder and Bucks to crypto.com Arena seem like logical games where he may accomplish this feat. The Home crowd would love it.
On Tuesday, February 7 (10:30 EST/7:30 PST), Los Angeles hosts Oklahoma City in a game where history might be made followed by a nationally televised Thursday, February 9 meeting with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee (TNT, 10:30 EST/7:30 PST).
LeBron shoots more than his fair share of Free Throws, prefers dunks and paint play like Kareem did, but the man has proven he can hit from 3-pointland, going 34.5% on his career from long range although he is down some this year from that distance (30.1%).
The Lakers (4-1 ATS L5) are a storied team with many great legends like LeBron, Kareem, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and the NBA logo, Jerry West, so this is a team used to making history. Setting the record at Home and on national TV would be really neat.
