3 Reasons why only LeBron James can break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has not played in an NBA game since June of 1989. His Los Angeles Lakers were defeated for the NBA Title that year. Abdul-Jabbar retired after that defeat.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a splendid and distinguished basketball career. From 1966 to 69, then called Lew Alcindor, he played NCAA basketball for UCLA. At UCLA he was a three-time champion, 3 time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, 3 time National College Player of the Year and his number 33 is retired at UCLA.

His outstanding college career was followed by being the number one overall pick at the 1969 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons in the NBA. He spent the first 6 with the Bucks and his final 14 years in a Lakers uniform.

Kareen Abdul-Jabbar won 6 NBA titles, he was a 2-time Finals MVP, a 6-time NBA MVP, 19-time All-Star, a 2-time scoring champion, and he was also Rookie of the Year in 1969. He has more honors and distinctions from his 20 year NBA career which is a long list.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds a number of NBA records, as well. He is the all-time leader in minutes played at 57,466. Jabbar also holds the most made field goals record at 15,837.

The most impressive record has to be total career points scored at 38,387 with a 55.9% field goal average for his career. What makes the record stand out further is that Abdul-Jabbar played in an era when the 3 point field goal was not a staple play in the game. The three-pointer was never really a shot the center would take anyway.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a 7’2 center, made exactly one three-point shot out of the 15,837 field goals that he scored. His points scored record was amassed the hard way. However, many of those two-point field goals in the post came from the shot Jabbar immortalized, the skyhook. There was nobody who could stop or block that shot.

The scoring record was set more than 29 years ago. There is exactly one active player who could catch and pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the record. It’s a daunting task, but should LeBron James fail to add this record to his legendary career, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar maybe the scoring leader in the NBA for decades to come and here’s why:

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#1 Longevity and excellence

Dirk Nowitzki is in his 21st season and is far away from Abdul-Jabbar's record

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar compiled 38,387 points in 20 seasons with 57,486 minutes in 1,560 games. Jabbar’s career scoring average was 24.9 points per game. Many players may average 24 points per game for a few seasons but as they age or join a better team their average falls off.

For example, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter have each surpassed Jabbar’s 20 seasons. However, they do not come close to his scoring average. They have had the longevity, but the excellence has tailed off. In Nowitzki’s case, he has had 13 seasons in which his scoring average has been above 21 points per game.

Nowitzki also has 1,472 games but has only accumulated 31,189 points. Nowitzki has played one game this year. It's strongly expected he will retire in the summer of 2019 and is 7th all-time in NBA scoring.

Vince Carter is in his 21st year, like Nowitzki. Carter has 10 seasons scoring over 20 points a game and has played in 1430 games. Carter is 22nd in scoring all-time with 25,048 and his career scoring average is only 17.5 per game. Vince Carter has to be close to retirement and more so to that than he is to Jabbar’s scoring record.

Other players who played 15 or more season who trail Jabbar’s scoring record include Michael Jordan (18 years), Kobe Bryant (20 years), Moses Malone (19 years) and Shaquille O’Neal (19 years).

The formula employed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was longevity, playing the game at a high level of excellence throughout his entire career and playing a lot. Jabbar's playing time dipped in his last two seasons when his minutes per game were 28.9 and 22.9 in 1988 and 1989.

Most players decline in skill, stamina and productivity as they play through their mid and late 30's. Jabbar's record is truly legendary since he played to age 41 and was still averaging 23.4 points per game at age 38.

#2 The rise of the 3-pointer and the decline of scoring efficiency

Stephen Curry changed the whole dynamics of scoring in the NBA with his 3-point shooting

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made just one three-pointer in his career. The majority of his points came in the paint or from the post. Abdul-Jabbar also scored 6,712 points from the free throw line. During his era of basketball, the three-pointer was not taken or emphasized at the volume it is in today’s game. Kareem amassed his scoring average on a 55.9% field goal efficiency rate.

The one active player that has a shot at Jabbar’s record is LeBron James. James has made more free throws at 7,008. His field goal average is high at 50.4% but he has made 1,678 three-point field goals for an average of 34.5% from three.

This means LeBron has attempted nearly 4,860 three point shots in his career. The three-point shot does mean more points when it’s a made field goal. However, the three-point shot does drop most players' field goal efficiency. In LeBron's case, his three-point field goal average is approximately 16% lower than his overall shooting efficiency.

It's often a wonder what LeBron’s efficiency would be if he spent more time using his powerful 6’8 athletic frame around the basket. If LeBron, at his current pace, is unable to surpass Jabbar’s record, it will take a very efficient sharpshooter in the future to have a shot at this record.

#3 The modern game

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The modern style of play in the NBA de-emphasizes what allowed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to accrue 38,387 points. During Jabbar’s brilliant career, the center position on the court was a dominant scoring position. With most centers 6’10 and taller (Jabbar was 7’2), a good center meant high percentage scoring. In half court sets, the plan was to isolate the center in the post to use their size to dominate with post moves, turnaround jumpers, and dunks.

The modern era is different. General managers want players 6’6 to 6’11 with great ball handling skills. The game is played more on the perimeter than it is inside and even the mid-range game is limited in use.

Teams also value ball movement and making the extra pass hoping to shift a defense looking for the best shot. Great players will always stand out no matter what style, but teams are not force feeding their star scorer in isolated plays like they used to.

A strong example of this is Kevin Durant. In his 12th season, he has a career scoring average of 27.2 per game. He currently plays for the Golden State Warriors who have greats like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala, who was once a franchise player for Philadelphia.

Durant’s numbers stand out putting him in the conversation for league MVP. Durant does average 6.2 assists per game this season, the highest assist average of his career. The best teams involve every player on the floor so passing skills are at a premium too.

Also, since the 2007 season when the Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to help Paul Pierce, the blueprint for teams trying to win is to create a triumvirate of stars and build around them.

Boston appeared in two NBA Finals winning once with this format. The Miami Heat followed the pattern when they added LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010. They won two of four NBA Finals appearances from 2011 to 2014.

The Cleveland Cavaliers did the same thing bringing LeBron James back via free agency in the summer of 2014 and trading for Kevin Love to help Kyrie Irving. The Cavaliers won one NBA Finals in the last four years.

The Cavaliers' opponent in those four finals was Golden State. Warriors had Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry but added Kevin Durant via free agency, in the summer of 2016. This formula usually means the star players have to give up personal stats to work within the team framework. It's not just championship teams doing this. The OKC Thunder had Russell Westbrook, George Paul and Carmelo Anthony last year.

With the style of play, in the NBA requiring every player on the floor to shoot more, more players will score and the rule changes lately have been slanted in favor of the offense. The best players will still standout they always do. However, there is less reliance on any individual star than in the past.

In the future, the scoring mark that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set will be an extremely difficult career accomplishment to achieve. At age 33, LeBron James has the best chance at surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as the NBA's all time scorer, but whether its Jabbar or James the old or new record will stand for a very long time.