Who needed fewer games to reach the NBA scoring record, Lebron James or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

A GOAT love triangle is about to burst as LeBron James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading NBA scorer, and Michael Jordan fans go on the defense for their guy. The debate in 1984 was settled, Kareem was the GOAT, but then a kid named Jordan came along and took the NBA by storm, and many crowned him as the best player of all time.

The debate changed as younger people started to forget who Kareem was and his accolades and a new face emerged, LeBron James. The kid from Akron is now 38 years old, and as younger generations start to forget what MJ did back in the day, the GOAT debate gets heated even more as LeBron James establishes him firmly as the number one all-time scorer.

Michael Jordan was not on the debate of who would be the all-time scorer; that’s a LeBron vs Kareem thing.

But who needed fewer games to become the all-time NBA scorer between LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

LeBron James has needed exactly 150 games less than Kareem to break his record.

James has been in the NBA for 19 seasons and has missed around 140 games in his career, while Kareem played for 20 seasons and only missed six games twice in all of that time. Both players are a testament to a healthy lifestyle and prolonging their careers as much as possible. Abdul-Jabbar played 1,560 games to establish his record, while it took LeBron 1.410 to break it.

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What has Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said about Lebron James and him breaking his record?

Before the 2021-2022 season, LeBron was already in striking distance of breaking the record. Back then, Kareem expressed his desire for LeBron to break the record.

“I’m excited to see it happen. I don’t see records as personal accomplishments, but more as human achievements. If one person can do something that’s never been done, that means we all have a shot at doing it. It’s a source of hope and inspiration,” said the ex-Lakers player.