When will LeBron James become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer? Projected date
The NBA 2022-23 season is underway and it looks like Lakers star LeBron James could very well become the league’s all-time leading scorer before it ends.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost their season opener to the Golden State Warriors 123-109, but LeBron James did manage to creep closer to breaking one of the most important records in the NBA- that of being the all-time leading scorer.
After his 31-point haul against the Warriors, James now only needs 1,295 points to outstrip Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who set the record with a total career score of 38,387 in April 1984.
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When will LeBron James become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer?
Heading into his 20th season in the league, James has averaged 27.1 points per game; and if he continues at this rate for the season, he would need 48 games to become number one in all-time scoring. This would mean that he would achieve the feat during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 25, provided that he doesn’t skip any games until then.
If the 37-year-old performs like his rookie self, when he registered the fewest points per game in a season (20.9), he would reach the magic number in 62 games during the Lakers’ March 1 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Last season’s high numbers
On the other hand, if the 18-time NBA All-Star delivers the numbers like he did last season when he scored 30.3 per game, he would set the record in only 43 games, which would be their January 16 matchup against the Houston Rockets. Again, this is presuming that he is able to play each game between now and then.
Although James had a high average last year, he did miss a number of games owing to injuries. If this season plays out more or less the same way in terms of his absences, he would reach the milestone in March 10, when they play against the Toronto Raptors in game 66.
Whether he plays his highest or lowest average this season, as long as he stays healthy, mighty LeBron James looks bound to topple yet another long-standing record in NBA history.