The 2022-23 season is highly anticipated for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA scoring record that has stood for more than three decades. On February 7, 2023, James etched his name on the NBA regular season scoring leaderboard – finishing the season with 38,652 points.
The thing is, James isn’t over being separated from his fellow Laker legend just yet. Although James is in the twilight of his career (James will turn 39 in December), the Kings are still strong, and it is inevitable that James will reach 40,000 points when health allows.
Former Lakers head coach Byron Scott is convinced that once LeBron James reaches the 40,000-point benchmark, no one will come close to the Kings’ incredible record.
“He’s kept himself in incredible shape and he’s going to play another year or so and I think he’s going to get to the level where he scores over 40,000 points in the league and I don’t think that’s going to be broken.” All our lives,” Scott said during an appearance on Scoop B Selects with host Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
While surpassing LeBron James’ record isn’t set in stone, the former Lakers coach has plenty of reasons to believe the King’s scoring record will stand the test of time. One of the reasons Scott gave is that James’ long-term greatness will be elusive for anyone — especially in the era of load management.
“I think the reason (I don’t think anyone will break his record) is consistency. LeBron played 20 years in the NBA and never really got completely injured, and when he got injured, he came right back,” Scott added.
This isn’t exactly a groundbreaking idea, as NBA teams prioritize the health of their stars for the playoffs over the glory that might come with the regular season. So unless the NBA returns to where it was before the load management era began, LeBron James’ record appears to be safe. If things go well, the world may be safe as long as it spins safely on its axis and orbits the sun.