Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set to be in attendance when LeBron James breaks scoring record: All you need to know
LA Lakers star LeBron James is expected to surpass legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over the next two games to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. James sits at 38,352 career points, just 35 behind Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387. This means James, who is averaging 30.0 points per game this season, needs to score 36 more to break the record.
James ultimately doing so has been the most anticipated event of the 2022-23 NBA season, so naturally, tickets for upcoming Lakers games have been in high demand. According to Lakers play-by-play announcer Billy MacDonald, Abdul-Jabbar himself will also be in the building whenever the historic moment takes place.
Billy Mac notes during the @SpectrumSN broadcast that Kareem will be in the building when LeBron is paced to break his all-time scoring record, whether this Tuesday or Thursday. AK
The Lakers next game is on Tuesday at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After that, LA will play at home against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. James has scored 36-plus points in nine of his 43 games this season, which suggests that he is much more likely to break the record against the Bucks.
Most have agreed that this is the most fitting way for him to do so, as Milwaukee was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s original team. Abdul-Jabbar played six seasons for the Bucks before his 14 seasons with LA.
However, it remains to be seen if James plans to go all out for the record on Tuesday or if he will pace himself to be able to break it on Thursday. Either way, as long as James stays healthy and out of foul trouble, he should be a lock to pass Abdul-Jabbar no later than Thursday. Despite the two stars' rocky personal history, it should be a memorable and emotional night for both.
Also read: Why LeBron James is actually underrated
Comparing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James' career scoring
As for the number of games it’s taken LeBron James to reach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record, James has played far fewer. James’ upcoming Tuesday and Thursday night games will mark his career's 1,410th and 1,411th regular season games. James has averaged 27.2 points per game (PPG) throughout his career.
Meanwhile, Abdul-Jabbar retired with 1,560 regular season games and averaged 24.6 PPG throughout his career. This means James will likely be able to pass Abdul-Jabbar in either 150 or 149 fewer games.
On top of this, Abdul-Jabbar retired after his 20th NBA season, where he averaged just 10.1 PPG. Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, James is still averaging 30.0 PPG in his 20th season.
So not only will James pass Abdul-Jabbar’s record in fewer games, it looks like he will eventually blow it out of the water. However, some may argue that Abdul-Jabbar played in a tougher era.