Iman Shumpert could make mid-December season debut
November 18, 2015Indians Jose Ramirez injured in Dominican Winter League
November 19, 2015Will LeBron pass Kareem? On Tuesday, LeBron James passed the logo Jerry West for No. 19 on the all-time regular season scoring list. He now has 25,213 points in his career. I looked at who has assisted him the most when he passed the 25,000-point mark a few weeks back. But what’s next on LeBron’s conquest?
Let’s assume that he averages 25 points per game for the foreseeable future. And that he misses, say, seven games per season. Obviously, he won’t do that forever, but it’s a decent sketch for now. Given that assumption, how many games would be necessary and how many seasons would it take to pass each person throughout the rest of the list? Here’s some quick math, with active players placed in italics:
2015-16 Season: No. 18 Reggie Miller (3 more games), No. 17 Alex English (16 games), No. 16 Paul Pierce (30 games), No. 15 Kevin Garnett (31 games), No. 14 Tim Duncan (35 games), No. 13 John Havlicek (47 games), No. 12 Dominique Wilkens (58 games), No. 11 Oscar Robertson (60 games)
2016-17 Season: No. 10 Hakeem Olajuwon (69 games), No. 9 Elvin Hayes (84 games), No. 8 Moses Malone (88 games), No. 7 Dirk Nowitzki (123 games), No. 6 Shaquille O’Neal (135 games)
2017-18 Season: None
2018-19 Season: No. 5 Wilt Chamberlain (248 games), No. 4 Michael Jordan (283 games)
2019-20 Season: No. 3 Kobe Bryant (296 games)
2020-21 Season: None
2021-22 Season: None
2022-23 Season: No. 2 Karl Malone (469 games)
2023-24 Season: No. 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (527 games)
So, LeBron has a decent chance to at least enter the top-12 in scoring by the end of the season, even with all of the active players just ahead of him. And he could move into the top-6 the year after that. But beyond Shaq? The task becomes far more difficult. At that pace that I laid out, LeBron would not pass Kareem until November 2023. LeBron would be 38 years old and about to turn 39.
At this point, I’d give LeBron maybe a 10 percent chance of accomplishing this near-impossible task. It just requires so much health, so much elite play, and so many other hoops to jump. I’d expect LeBron to pretty confidently finish No. 3 all-time in NBA scoring. He should be able to do that fairly handily. I just wouldn’t bet on anything beyond Kobe.
♦♦♦
Down with the SEC! Dayton won 80-48 over Alabama on Tuesday. Akron won 88-80 in Arkansas on Wednesday. Gosh, this tweet gives me so many warm feelings inside about home in Ohio. Reddit also had some fun with the game.
"Stick to Football" chant breaks out in the Dayton student section @NYPost_Brazille
— Matthew Schwade (@FlyerHoops) November 17, 2015
Also: Do we appreciate Akron’s Keith Dambrot enough? He is in his 12th season with the Zips. He has won at least 19 games every season. He has a 254-121 (.677) record and reached seven straight MAC Tournament Finals from 2007-13. This is shaping up to be another really good team.
♦♦♦
NHL All-Star Game. This is a really clever idea. Major League Baseball innovated quite a bit with the timer for this past summer’s Home Run Derby. But how else could the NBA, NFL or MLB change up their All-Star Games with an idea like this?
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/667139781227356160
Perhaps the NBA could also do some 3-on-3 tournament? It’d be fun if they could actually take it seriously, but that might require yanking the game itself. That probably won’t ever happen any time soon. But more skills competitions – such as a Dream Shake-off?! – could add just more fun. It never hurts to try.
♦♦♦
Links from around the sports world: I read lots of things. I see lots of things on the Twitters. So I love just sharing some links so you can read lots of things too! Is 10 a good amount? I’ll cap it at 10 because I’m nice.
Ben Hill, MiLB.com: New Logo Round-Up: Fierce, Streamlined and Verdant
Dayn Perry, CBSSports.com: The Hartford Yard Goats’ uniforms are excellent
Jeff Bradley: A Little Ditty About an Out-of-Work Sportswriter
Ben Dowsett, The Cauldron: As promised by LeBron James, Kevin Love is the Cavaliers’ centerpiece
Drew Magary, GQ.com: A Few Words for the Nashville Mom Who Hates Cam Newton’s Dabbing
Detroit Pistons: THE LONGEST OOP TRACKER
Rob Neyer, Just A Bit Outside: You Say General Manager, I Say General Manager
Jeff Ellis, Indians Baseball Insider: Three players in the trade and free agent market the Cleveland Indians should consider
Evan Weese, Columbus Business First: Nike’s recent megadeals point to huge Ohio State payday with next contract
Jacob Rosen, Warsaw SportsBlog: Renewed Battle over ’12th Man’ Trademark Expected in 2016
♦♦♦
A Quick Life Update: I’ll be back home in Northeast Ohio from Dec. 8-22. I’ll certainly be at the Browns-49ers game on Dec. 13 and the Cavs-Thunder game on Dec. 17. I’m sure there will also be some #CavsTwitter tacos at some point. So let’s get together at some point, friends. I’m sure I’ll spread the word. It would be great to have some type of WFNY get-together. Who knows when I’ll be back around again! (This is the thing I keep saying because I’m finishing my MBA in June and there are so many life question marks and yet, every time I end up coming back to Ohio in pretty decent intervals. I’ll be back again. Just not certain yet.)
6 Comments
When did Drew Magary start writing for GQ?
He has for a couple years now. This is a fun piece he did about going on the Kid Rock cruise.
http://www.gq.com/story/kid-rock-annual-cruise-gq-june-2013
I was unaware! Thanks!
NBA players couldn’t take a game less seriously than they take the current All-Star game. I’d be excited to tune in for a 3-on-3 tournament. They wouldn’t have to run playing 1/2 court so maybe there is some D, and they could even have both games going at the same time!
It’s gotta be full court, but they can shrink the size ala Hoop-It-Up tournaments.
LBJ has a shot but just like all of us it all depends on his health. If anyone can do it however it’s him. But even if he can’t a top 5 finish would be nothing to be ashamed of either.