“When they talk about the best scorers of all time, they never mention my name, it pi**es me off” - LeBron James says he finds it weird to ‘sit at the top of the food chain’ in the NBA all-time scorers list
LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to hold the NBA record for the most points scored in both the regular season and playoffs. Regardless, the 2007-08 scoring champ does not see himself as a scorer first.
LeBron James is now the all-time leading scorer in NBA history (regular season + playoffs)👑 LeBron James is now the all-time leading scorer in NBA history (regular season + playoffs)
King: 44,157
Kareem: 44,149
Mailman: 41,689
Kobe: 39,283
MJ: 38,279
https://t.co/rp5wk1K2Fc
There is truth in that, as James has been praised a lot for his high IQ and understanding of the game. He has always had impressive court vision and is known for making his teammates better.
On the Season 5 premiere of "The Shop," James talked about how seeing a LeBron hater in the crowd spurred him on to go out and be his best. That strategy has seemingly worked for the four-time NBA champ. He is only 1,723 points away from Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record of 38,387 points.
"The crazy thing is, I'm not like a natural scorer," James said. "I love getting my guys involved. I've always been that way. I've always like – the point of seeing my teammates succeed off my pass. I've always been that type of guy.
"To sit at the top of the food chain in the most points scored in the history of the game is weird to me. When they talk about the best scorers of all-time, they don't mention my name."
Entrepreneur Maverick Carter asked James if being left out of the best-scorer conversation upset him, and he said:
"Yeah, it pisses me off. They don't ever bring my name into it."
Meanwhile, former NBA player Richard Jefferson said James is the greatest scorer of all time. It is doubly impressive given that his approach to the game is to pass first, but he has consistently averaged 25.0 points or more since his sophomore season.
James has a career scoring average of 27.06 ppg. That average ranks fifth all-time. Michael Jordan holds the record at 30.12 ppg.
James has scored 36,664 points, third all-time, in his 19 seasons. Karl Malone, who is second, retired with 36,928 points after 19 seasons. Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989 after 20 seasons.
Richard Jefferson keeping it 💯🔥
Q: “Who’s the greatest scorer of this era. Steph, Harden, KD?”
RJ: “LeBron James”
Q: “I said scorer.”
RJ : “LeBron James” https://t.co/NWzhJ1Dr3U
LeBron James is 23 assists away from being the first player in NBA history to have 10,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists
LeBron James has been applauded for being arguably the most complete player in league history, and the numbers show it. Before the end of the season, he could become the first player in NBA history to record 10,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 10,000 assists.
While many have been focused on him breaking a scoring record that has been in place since 1989, he is setting records across other stat categories.
Unfortunately, LeBron's brilliance has not been as effective as he would have hoped, as the LA Lakers (27-35) are having an overwhelmingly disappointing season. They are currently on a four-game skid and have one of the toughest schedules to close out the season.
The Lakers could miss the playoffs if they continue playing as poorly as they have. If that happens, the chances of James winning a fifth championship will get slimmer.