LeBron James moves closer to NBA all-time scoring mark

The Lakers LeBron James is now 36 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. James scored 27 points in Saturday’s 131-126 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The defeat was the Lakers third in five road games as they now head home for a Tuesday date with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James has averaged 28.1 points, 7.4 assists and 7.0 rebounds in 34 games versus the Thunder in his career. It’s the third fewest against any team behind his output against the Lakers (829) and Cavaliers (956).

 What’s ahead

If James fails to get the record on Tuesday, the next game would also be in Los Angeles against the Milwaukee Bucks, which is scheduled to be on national TV. Ironically, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who currently holds the NBA regular season scoring record, played for the Bucks and Lakers during his 20-year career.

James is already the NBA’s all-time scoring leader but needs 36 more markers to pass Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387. The 38-year James, who is in his 20^th season, is averaging 28.5 ppg., the third highest mark of his Hall of Fame career.

He scored a season-high 48 points against Houston in January, and his career high is 61 against Charlotte in 2014.

 The race to 38,000 points

Kareem played in 1,560 games and missed more than six games just twice in his career. James has played in roughly 150 fewer games and has logged 4,000 fewer minutes. The three-pointer came in about 10 years after Abdul-Jabbar had retired. So who had the advantage? Is one 38,000 point effort more impressive than the other? Equipment (shoes, training) is better now but isn’t the competition better now than it was when Kareem played?

LeBron has a number of miles on his legs as well. At age 38, he has played in roughly 150 fewer NBA games than Kareem and logged 4,000 fewer minutes, for three different teams, to reach the 38,000-point club.

 Sell-out expected

Ticket prices for the game against OKC have gone through the roof. The average price is $1,100 dollars, an increase of nearly 400 percent from opening night of the 2022-23 season.