NBA 2023: How will LeBron beat Kareem’s record this Season? Stats Explained

There hasn’t been any hotter debate than the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) discussion between LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Some would say LeBron is the greatest, while others prefer his Airness over the King. No matter how big the difference between the two is, we can’t deny the fact that they are the best athletes to walk on Earth. Subsequently, LBJ and MJ are two of the greatest scorers of the game and fans should be glad to have witnessed both eras.

Coming into the 2022-2023 season, LBJ will be playing his 19th NBA season. At 37 years old, he is still a top 10 or so player in the league and still plays at the highest level. Last season, he passed Karl Malone as the 2nd in NBA all-time scoring. It would be obvious to say that he is coming for the number one on the all-time scoring list, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With just about a thousand points behind Kareem, how will LeBron beat Captain Hook’s record? Will he achieve it next season? If so, how long? If these are the questions running on your mind, we just might have the answer for you.

To put things into perspective, LeBron James currently has 37,062 total career points. He is just 1,325 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 career output.

Last season, James posted one of his best scoring seasons with a 30.3 PPG average. Playing for only 56 of the 82 games for the Los Angeles Lakers, his total points earned during that same season were 1,695.

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Photo Courtesy of NBATo be able to take the first spot in the all-time scoring record, LeBron must acquire at least 1,326 points next season. This scenario would be highly achievable given the following circumstances:

• Let’s say LeBron plays like he did last season and tallies 30 points a night, that would mean he only needs about 45 games to reach this milestone. [ 1,326/30 = 44.2 ]
• Now that he’s pushing 38, what if his level of play suddenly falls? Assuming that he would only average 25 points per game (which is still all-star-worthy), that would mean he would have to play at least 54 games to pass Kareem. This would be justifiable as LeBron played 56 games last season. [ 1,326/25 = 53.04 ]
• We all know that LeBron never averaged less than 25 PPG aside from his rookie year. But, what if he falls below the 25 PPG mark next season? As impossible as it may sound, if LeBron scores only about 20 points per contest, King James would have to play 67 games. Still plausible but since he is already aging and injuries may come and go, 67 sure sounds a lot. Right now, we don’t see LeBron getting back to playing 60 or 70 games in a single season. [1,326/20 = 66.3 ]
• Anything further than the scenarios below would require James to play tons of games. That just means if he becomes a washed version of himself – which we highly doubt – he won’t be getting to Kareem’s record. To put it simply, the table will show you how many games LeBron needs to play depending on how much he produces each game.

(*) means it already exceeds 82 games in a season

Again, apart from his first year in the league, LeBron never averaged below 25 points per game for 17 consecutive seasons. And, if you look at him, he does not seem to be slowing down any moment soon. That just puts together strong evidence that LeBron will be passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for first in all-time NBA scoring. If James does take the spot soon, will he become the G.O.A.T.?

In how many games do you see LeBron taking the throne as the number one in the list? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us, here at Spiel Times.

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