LeBron James: The NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer
I - like many of you, watched LeBron James become the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer on Tuesday night. The record in and of itself is impressive. LeBron has now scored more points than any individual in the history of the national basketball association. The last time a baton of that magnitude was transferred was back in April of 1984 — nearly 39 years ago.
The record is a testament to LeBron’s longevity (and durability). A twenty-year career is impressive in and of itself, but when you factor in 10 seasons with at least 15 playoff games, it’s otherworldly.
As I sat back and watched LeBron close in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 39-year standing record, there was one word that just kept coming back to me:
Lucky.
I was 8 years old when Lebron was drafted straight out of high school in 2003. It was during his era that I fell in love with the game of basketball. I grew up watching LeBron. My passion and zeal for NBA hoops had a front-row seat to watching LeBron’s career progress.
If LeBron played, I was watching.
I was barely double-digits in his early battles with the Washington Wizards (shoutout De’Shawn Stevenson).
I was 13 years old in his first Finals appearance against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.
Then came his playoff battles with the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics (I don’t know why, but shoutout to Daniel ‘Boobie’ Gibson”).
I remember my parents letting me stay up and watch LeBron’s 49-point masterclass against the Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference semis. He scored the final 25 points and helped Cleveland gut out a tough win. (The “LeBron isn’t clutch” narrative has never made much sense to me).
All of this excitement culminated in the summer of 2010. LeBron was going on ESPN to announce where he would play next. Twitter was in its early stages and this was long before the days of Woj/Shams bombs. If you were 15 years old like I was at the time, you honestly didn’t really know where LeBron was headed. (I kinda miss those simpler times).
“I’m taking my talents to South Beach”.
Those were the seven words I heard as I was playing with my nerf basketball hoop.
WHAT!? LEBRON JAMES IS JOINING MY FAVORITE TEAM? Yup.
Not only did I grow up and get to watch LeBron in his prime, but I also got to see him wear my favorite team’s jersey for four years. How many fans can say that the greatest player of all time actually played for their city?
Again, lucky.
After leaving Miami for Cleveland in 2014, his dominance rose to new levels. From 2017-2023 the offseason narrative surrounding LeBron has been “will this be the year that he finally slows down?” Only for him to seemingly get better and more dangerous every single year.
I am not writing this to make the case or prove that LeBron is the greatest player of all time. Because, frankly, I don’t really care. Rather I want to express how fortunate I have been to grow up in LeBron’s era.
There will come a time when he no longer plays. And Skip Bayless won’t be the only one who loses something. Let’s not take for granted how special of a career we are witnessing.
Dubbed ‘The Chosen One’ before his 18th birthday, the weight of expectations put on his shoulders has been astronomical.
I think this sums up how special and dominant LeBron’s career has been:
Twenty years after watching LeBron score his first NBA bucket against the Sacramento Kings as an 8-year-old kid, I tucked my 3-year-old son into bed and sat down to watch him become the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer.
Lucky.