Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Talks About LeBron James Passing Him As NBA's All Time Leading Scorer
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been the NBA's all time leading scorer for many years now. LeBron James currently has scored 35,367 points. It is conservatively safe to say if James plays most of the year, he'll amass at least 1,500 points in the 2021-2022 season, and if he gets even 100 more than that, he'll pass Karl Malone and be second all time.
In a conversation with Marc Stein on his substack called, "The Stein Line," Jabbar expressed excitement and joy over the possibility of James eventually passing his record of 38,387 career points.
"I'm excited to see it happen. I don't see records as personal accomplishments, but more as human achievements. If one person can do something that's never been done before, that means we all have a shot at doing it. It's a source of hope and inspiration. Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile back in 1954. Since then, not only have 1,400 runners beaten that time, but the new record is 17 seconds less. We all win when a record is broken and if LeBron breaks mine, I will be right there to cheer him on."
This display of sportsmanship and grace is not surprising, at least not from Jabbar. Jabbar has always been an ambassador of the game and particularly a full-throated advocate of players themselves. Jabbar was more than happy to celebrate when Giannis Antetokounmpo brought the Milwaukee Bucks their first championship since Jabbar himself did just that in 1971. Laker fans should be cheering on James to break this record sooner rather than later, as it would likely mean high-level production from James.
