For years, people have debated about who the best basketball player of all time is. LeBron James and Michael Jordan tend to be the two players most prominently mentioned in those debates.
People point to Jordan’s six titles as one reason for crowing the Chicago Bulls legend as the best of all time, while other fans use James’ ranking in different statistical categories as a reason for choosing him over Jordan.
Former NBA player Chandler Parsons recently offered up his take on the debate and stated that it will be over once James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points scored in NBA history.
“I love Michael Jordan, he’s my childhood… but I gotta give LeBron the official GOAT here once he does this.” 👀🐐@ChandlerParsons on LeBron passing Kareem for the all-time #NBA scoring record on #RunItBack with @ShamsCharania
📺: https://t.co/Q9hUtUoPZJ pic.twitter.com/rKfFke9L91
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) February 1, 2023
“They’re both insane, and I got to give LeBron his flowers,” Parsons said. “… I think to be able to say you have the most points in the history of the NBA is wild. And I truly think once he gets this record we got to officially crown him as the G.O.A.T. The things he’s done, it just speaks volumes on the longevity of his career.”
Parsons makes a fair point, and it will be interesting to see if fans change their minds whenever James does break Abdul-Jabbar’s record.
With the way things are going, it seems like James will break the record on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena. Breaking the record in front of tons of Lakers fans would make the historic moment all the more special.
James has averaged at least 20.9 points per game in each of his 20 seasons and has shown no signs of slowing down this season. The four-time champion is currently recording 30.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.1 assists per contest while knocking down 50.5 percent of his shots from the field and 31.0 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
While James continues to prove that he’s still one of the league’s best players, the Lakers haven’t been enjoying consistent success this season.
The team sits in 13th place in the Western Conference with a 24-28 record and can’t seem to sustain any momentum it gets.
The good news, however, is that it isn’t fully out of the postseason picture. L.A. is just two games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the last play-in tournament spot in the conference, so a small winning streak could move the Lakers up.
