LeBron James is on the verge of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and Magic Johnson has some thoughts about how that might go.
In a guest appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay,” Johnson was asked how Abdul-Jabbar will handle losing the praiseworthy record.
“I don’t think well,” Magic said after a laugh.
Kareem, Magic and LeBron are three names that would be almost impossible to omit when discussing Lakers (and basketball) legends. It’s possible that Johnson is accurate in his prediction of how Abdul-Jabbar might react to a potential shift in his legacy.
As it stands, James needs 1,244 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar, who has held the record since April 1984.
In his conversation with Sharpe, Johnson acknowledged that the leading scorer record is something that Abdul-Jabbar thought he would have forever. Being eclipsed by James might make matters worse.
“Let’s be honest… The fact that it’s a dude playing for the Lakers too. It’s a dude playing in L.A. I think it will be a hard pill to swallow” Johnson said.
LeBron, Kareem and the future
What Abdul-Jabbar accomplished almost 40 years ago is something that many thought could never be done again, partially because of the longevity of his 20-year career.
James is now in his 20th season and while Abdul-Jabbar averaged higher scoring numbers early, James has 18 consecutive seasons averaging at least 25 points per game under his belt to help him catch up. For a player to set the record after Abdul-Jabbar and James, he would need to join the league at 18 years old, exceed the scoring averages of the greats, and almost never miss a game, for at least 20 years.
Publicly, Abdul-Jabbar has been diplomatic about losing his longtime record.
“If LeBron breaks the record, and it looks like he has every reason to break it, I’ll be very happy for him. The game will always improve when records like that are broken” Abdul-Jabbar said in August.
He even noted that he would “try to be there” when James makes it happen.
However, Johnson also addressed the relationship between the two Lakers greats. In the past, Adbul-Jabbar has made statements about James, sometimes apologizing and sometimes doubling down on what could be referred to as critiques of some of his actions and social views.
Most recently, James said that he doesn’t have any relationship with the former Lakers big man. This is something Johnson would like to see change.
“If I can play a part in that, I would love to do that. I think, let him pass him first. Let that happen and let that soak in for a minute and then put the two men together because they’re gonna find out they’re similar” he said.