5 NBA players who could reach 15,000 career points in the 2021-22 season
Scoring 15,000 career points in the NBA is no mean feat. Quite a lot of the current players have taken very little time to get there, though, thanks to how the game has evolved offensively in the last decade.
A total of twelve active players have scored 15,000 or more points in the NBA. That number could swell next season, as a few players are on the cusp of reaching the landmark.
On that note, here's a look at the top five NBA players likely to cross the 15,000-point mark in the 2021-22 campaign.
#5 Kyrie Irving (13,293 points)
Kyrie Irving is coming off a season where he became just the eighth NBA player to achieve shooting percentages of 50/40/90. A 50/40/90 shooting split is basically a player shooting 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point line and 90% from the free-throw line throughout the regular season.
Irving joined some elite players like Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Reggie Miller, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant to achieve the feat. He did so while averaging a whopping 26.9 points per game across 54 appearances.
The Brooklyn Nets star could cross the 15,000-point mark in the NBA next season. The Nets are one of the favorites to win the title, and Irving is one of their primary scorers.
He hasn't played as many games as he would have liked to in the last two seasons, due to injuries and personal reasons. But that could change in 2021-22, as he could be motivated to help his team win a title, which would be the second one of his career.
Irving is currently 1,707 points away from the 15,000-point landmark. His highest points tally for a season till now is 1,628, which he achieved during the 2014-15 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Irving stays healthy for most of the season, he has a great chance of amassing 1700+ points next campaign.
#4 Bradley Beal (13,303 points)
Bradley Beal has been in exceptional scoring form for the last two seasons. He has amassed over 30 points per game during both campaigns, and finished as the runner-up in the scoring title race behind Stephen Curry in the 2020-21 NBA season.
Beal looks likely to stay with the Washington Wizards for another season. With Westbrook's departure, Beal is expected to do most of the team's scoring. So another career-high season for the shooting guard could be on the cards.
It would take Beal another 1,697 points to get to the 15,000-point mark. Having amassed more than 1,700 points in his last five seasons, he looks likely to achieve the feat.