Now that LeBron James has overtaken Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the all-time scoring list, is the King the greatest of all time, AKA “The Goat?”
Most of you who follow this column know that this Last Rounder is partial towards Michael Jeffrey Jordan and I have LeBron at no. 2 and LeBron’s latest feat does not change that for me.
But it’s a matter of preference, of course, as it all depends on your metric.
LONGEVITY. LeBron’s points record is a testament to his longevity and that’s not to say that he has played for a very long time only — it is about playing for a very long time and being excellent at the same time.
And by excellent I do not mean being merely an All-star. For the majority of his career, LeBron has almost always been regarded as one of the top five players in the league — and there were probably 10 seasons or more where he was the top dog.
A good comparison would be Vince Carter who played 22 seasons. We know Carter was an awesome player who was probably the best dunker in NBA history and was also a prolific three point shot maker, ranking sixth in most three-point field goals in league history.
But despite that, Vince sits at no. 20 in the All-time scoring list. That simply means for most of his career — as great as Carter was, he was nowhere near LeBron’s caliber.
RECORDS. While indeed the scoring record is a marvelous accomplishment, I do not think that is enough for LeBron to overtake Jordan.
For one, scoring is not the only factor most people consider when you rank the greatest players of all time.
For example, Karl Malone is no. 3 in the All-time scoring list, but when you talk about the top 10 of all time, nobody puts “The Mailman” in there. The same with Carmelo Anthony who is at no. 9. Kobe Bryant has more points than MJ but nobody thinks he is superior to Jordan.
Conversely, when you talk about Larry Bird who certainly is in most people’s top five or top 10 lists, he is no. 36 in the all-time scoring list.
The same with Bill Russell who won 11 championships and is usually considered top 5 of all time. He is not even in the top 50, having “only” scored 14,522 points.
But let’s not rain on The King’s parade and turn this achievement into a GOAT debate.
LeBron is truly one special player and we are quite lucky we are still watching him play and break more records. The basketball world will be in a void the moment he retires.
Long live the “King.”
LAST ROUND. It’s on a dear friend, Val Macapagal, who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!