By: Pranav Parlapall

On February 7th, 2023, Lebron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the number 1 spot on the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) all-time scoring list with 38,387 points. James became just the second player in NBA history to reach 38,000 points and needed fewer games than Abdul-Jabbar to top the scoring list. Although James is widely considered a pass-first player, he was still able to reach the highest amount of points. He achieved an incredible feat that was once believed never to happen, but would an achievement like this ever be broken?

There are only 6 other players in the NBA that have reached 30,000 points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Micheal Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Wilt Chamberlain; all of whom are retired now. The only player in the top 10 scoring list that hasn’t retired yet is Kevin Durant, however, he is only at 27,873 points which is more than 11,000 points away from Lebron James. The common thing amongst these players is that they didn’t play as many seasons as James who is in his 21st season. James, with his incredible size and quickness, makes it very easy to beat his man off the dribble and get a layup, dunk, or short jumper.

Now, if we ever get a player that could beat his scoring record, that player would have to play as many seasons as Lebron James did and be as dominant as him. This player would need to play more than 21 seasons and average 27+ points per game every single season. He would also have to be willing to break this record from the start of his career and put his full focus on this one achievement because surpassing records like this wouldn’t just be out of the ordinary. It would have to be a goal from the very beginning, a feat trying to be accomplished every single game for 21 seasons straight.

Achieving this is definitely possible, but I don’t think we’re going to see it soon. As of right now, no player in the NBA is anywhere near beating the scoring record–except for Kevin Durant–who is still 12,000 points away from surpassing the record. Given this, we might not see a player becoming the next all-time scoring leader for another 10-20 years. This might give the implication that beating the scoring record is not possible. Of course, any player can reach this record, but it would be an extremely long and tiresome process. Injuries would also have to be avoided, which is something Lebron James was able to control for a while. 

All in all, breaking the scoring record will take years to accomplish but it is still possible. It may not be a player we know today but whoever decides to try and beat the record will have to dedicate their entire career to accomplishing this feat. Becoming the next all-time scoring leader will not be easy, as a player will have to average 20+ points per game for more than 20+ seasons.