NBA legend Tracy McGrady recently named his top five scorers in NBA history, and while he showed love to one Los Angeles Lakers great by including Kobe Bryant, he omitted a different one by leaving off current Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Not a bad list… pic.twitter.com/ud1O9KuaXU
— NBAinthezone™️ (@NBAinthezone) August 24, 2024
McGrady named Michael Jordan, Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and himself as his top five scorers of all time.
James certainly has a case as one of the greatest scorers ever, especially since he became the league’s all-time leading scorer in the 2022-23 season and is the only player in NBA history with over 40,000 regular-season points.
But he evidently hasn’t done enough to crack McGrady’s list, and it’s unclear if there’s any way for that to change before the veteran ultimately retires from the NBA.
McGrady had a phenomenal NBA career himself, as evidenced by his willingness to include himself on his list. He earned two scoring titles, seven All-Star bids and seven All-NBA nods during his playing days and is now a Hall of Famer.
His best scoring season came in the 2002-03 campaign with the Orlando Magic, when he led the league with 32.1 points per game. But it’s worth noting that he wasn’t a particularly efficient player, and he ended up averaging less than 20 points per game for his career due to some low-scoring seasons before and after his prime.
James isn’t always one of the first names discussed when it comes to the top scorers in NBA history, perhaps because other parts of his game steal some of the thunder from his scoring abilities. His well-rounded game has led to him having career averages of 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.
But he has suggested before that he wishes he got more respect for his scoring, an understandable claim for someone who has averaged at least 25 points per game in 20 consecutive seasons.
As he prepares for the 2024-25 NBA season, perhaps he’ll use McGrady’s list as motivation for another big scoring campaign. James averaged over 30 points per game as recently as the 2021-22 season. Last season, he was good for 25.7 points per contest on remarkably efficient shooting.
