James Worthy predicts different scoring record for Kareem Abdul Jabbar under changed circumstances: “LeBron getting ready to break Kareem's record”
As LeBron James nears breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record, James Worthy joined the “Knucklehead” to shared his thoughts. He talked about how the record could be different if Kareem played under different circumstances.
"He was saying that Kareem was forced to stay in school for four years," Worthy said. "You could imagine if Kareem could have come out in high school, he might be 10 (or) 15,000 points more."
One of the main differences between the careers of LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is that James entered the NBA straight from high school. Jabbar went to college for four years and couldn’t even play his freshman year because freshmen were not eligible to play by NCAA rules.
Worthy is correct that if Kareem was able to play right out of high school, the record book could look vastly different. He was physically able to play, and there was no doubt that he had the skills. As his former teammate stated, Abdul-Jabbar dominated as soon as he got to the league and beat all the big men of his era.
If Kareem could have had those four extra years in the NBA as a young man, how many more points would he have scored? If he averaged just 20 points per game over four years playing 82 games that would be an extra 6,560 points added to the total.
Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989 with the NBA scoring record of 38,387 points after 20 seasons in the league. James, in his 20th season, has 37,592.
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With Lebron on the verge of breaking Kareem’s all time scoring record in the NBA @JamesWorthy42 acknowledges the greatness of Lebron and also added this about his former teammate Kareem. #Knuckleheadspodcast @PlayersTribune ✊🏾😎✊🏾 https://t.co/JJIGDYoVbb
James Worthy had a front row seat to Abdul-Jabbar’s talent. They have played together since 1982-1989, winning three NBA Championships. Along with Magic Johnson, those men were the Lakers' big three during the "Showtime" era.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could be the greatest Ever
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is perhaps the most decorated basketball player of all time. While at UCLA, he won three consecutive national titles for the Bruins. The only reason he doesn’t have four is because freshmen were not eligible to play. The three-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player and national player of the year averaged 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds per game at UCLA.
Top 10 centers of all time
1:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Career stats: 24.6PPG 11.2RPG 3.6APG
Accolades: 6X NBA CHAMPION 6X MVP 2X Scoring Leader 19X All Star 2X FMVP 15X All nba teams 11X all defense teams 1X ROTY https://t.co/ZJydtxaL1n
His dominance doesn’t take a break when he entered the NBA. Most college players have to adjust, but not Kareem, who averaged 28.8 ppg and 14.5 rpg as a rookie with the Milwaukee Bucks. In his next three seasons, he averaged over 30 points per game in each of those years. He is a six-time league MVP, which is the record, and six-time NBA champion. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may be the greatest player ever.