"IF* Shannon Sharpe had as many shares in Tesla as Elon Musk, he’d have 266 billion dollars" - Shannon Sharpe’s reaction to a post saying Jordan would have 41,000 points if he played as many games as LeBron
Former NFL star Shannon Sharpe recently reacted to a tweet that said Michael Jordan would have 41,000 points if he played as many games as LeBron James. Sharpe believes he would do it while maintaining the scoring average he had with the Chicago Bulls.
Jordan averaged 31.5 points per game in 930 matches across 13 seasons with the Bulls. His scoring average drastically dropped after he came out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards in 2001. He averaged 21.2 points per game across 142 games for the Wizards. MJ finished with 32,292 points in his career, good for him to be ranked fifth on the all-time scoring list.
Meanwhile, James has averaged 27.2 points per game throughout his 19-season career. He has scored 36,985 points so far, which sees him placed second on the all-time scoring list.
A Twitter post compared Jordan's scoring with the Bulls to LeBron's current record, and Sharpe seemed to have considered that stat far-fetched. Here's what the former NFL player turned analyst retweeted:
"IF* Shannon Sharpe had as many shares in Tesla as Elon Musk, he’d have 266 billion dollars"
IF* Shannon Sharpe had as many shares in Tesla as Elon Musk, he’d have 266 billion dollars twitter.com/legionhoops/st…
Could Michael Jordan have had enough points as LeBron James if the former played as many games as the latter?
Michael Jordan is one of the best scorers the NBA has ever seen. He was unguardable at his best, and his game evolved as he progressed throughout his career. The six-time NBA champion is the only player aside from Wilt Chamberlain to win seven consecutive scoring titles. The former Bulls star has ten scoring titles to his name in total, the most for any player in NBA history.
MJ came out of retirement twice during his career. The first instance was in 1993 after he helped Chicago to their first three-peat, and in 1998 after helping the side to their second three-peat. Jordan ended up missing almost five seasons (he played 17 games in the 1994-95 season) of his career where he could've had a high impact.
He averaged 30.1 points per game across 1072 career games. That number could've been higher had he decided against retiring twice. MJ would've also had a higher ranking in terms of the all-time scoring record. It would be somewhere close to where LeBron James might end up being when he calls time on his career.
LeBron James so far this season:
30.0 PPG
8.2 RPG
6.3 APG
1.3 SPG
1.1 BPG
52% FG
37.1 MPG
The last time LeBron averaged 30.0 PPG in a season, he was 23 years old. 🤯 https://t.co/YztdKAiAUL
James is bound to cross Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at some point next year to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. If he can continue to score at the rate he has been over the last few years, there is a bright chance for him to become the first NBA player to amass 40,000 career points by the time he hangs up his boots.