Los Angeles Lakers: Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the real basketball GOAT
By Jason Reed
2. It is going to be very hard for LeBron James to catch Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LeBron James has been a freak of nature his entire NBA career and has only gotten better with age. If James can keep up this body of work for a few more seasons, he likely will catch Abdul-Jabbar in some statistical metrics.
James is 7350 points away from besting Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time mark. Last season, James scored 2251 points, the most he has scored in a single season since the 2009-2010 season. However, taking the average of his last five seasons, James is good for 1991 points per year.
James would need to be at the top of his game for four more years, making him 37 when he eventually catches Abdul-Jabbar. That is a tall task, especially as he gets older, but it is not impossible.
However, James is not going to be able to catch Abdul-Jabbar in all the metrics that he beat Jordan in. LeBron has won three Finals, and as long as the Golden State Warriors dominate the league, it is hard to see him winning another one soon. I think the ceiling on that is capped at five and that is only if he makes a late-career push on a new superteam.
James would need five more all-star appearances to tie Abdul-Jabbar, which is probably possible due to fan voting. He needs two more MVPs, which will be hard with the new crop of the NBA. Two more All-NBA teams are doable but he won’t catch him defensively.
While James may go down as the statistical GOAT across all the stats, he is lacking in the accomplishments department that is a huge factor in the debate. If he can somehow make a late-career push that is better than his career thus far, than yes, he should be the GOAT.
However, as of now, that seems highly unlikely.