Bye, Ewing.

quote:

---

Lebron is 30 years old. If he plays five more years and scores 2,000 points per year, slightly below his career average, he'll finish third all-time in scoring. 6 seasons at that rate would put him in second just ahead of Malone, and 7 seasons would vault him to first all-time.

If he wants to score the most points, he will.

---

You might be right, but 7 more years, with the minutes he's already put in, is not a given. Just look at Kobe. That breaking down injury can rear its ugly head at any time.

It's not a given, but Lebron has been insanely durable, more than Bryant was. He's probably got about two more years before his athleticism begins to decline, and players last longer nowadays than they used to.

Here's another crazy stat though: Lebron is already 8th all-time in playoff scoring. He'll get to 6th if he can play two full games this postseason. He's basically four deep runs behind Jordan.

3rd in scoring won't mean jack w/ out 4 more pcs of hardware

He is also #26 all time in assists and should fairly easily finish top 10.

quote:

---

3rd in scoring won't mean jack w/ out 4 more pcs of hardware

---

That's just not true.

Lebron has indeed been very durable in his career, I'm very curious how much longer he has before he starts a decline where he's not the same guy and starts playing fewer games and minutes due to wear and tear and injuries.

It's not about his age, it's about his minutes. Lebron is going to have a different career arc and peak because of how early he got to the NBA and how many minutes he played from day 1. He's an old 30 if you will.

Lebron has played in 1,065 games and logged 42,352 minutes. MJ when he won his 6th ring at age 35 had played in 1,109 games and logged 43,361 minutes. So after the rest of this year and another playoff run, Lebron will be very close mileage wise at age 30 as Jordan was at 35.

Kobe crossed the 43,000 minute threshold at age 31. Since then, he has only been able to average about 1,900 minutes/season, which is less than the nearly 2,700 minutes/season he averaged his previous 14 seasons. And he's only been able to average about 1,350 points/season, down again from his first 14 years 1,850 point/season average.

Lebron if he follows a similar path as Kobe would crank out 1,600 points/season over the next 5 years, which would get him past Jordan and perhaps Kobe depending on where he ends up. He would also probably be at around 56,000 minutes played at that point. The list of guys all time who have played more than 56,000 minutes is incredibly short:

Kareem - 66,297 minutes
Malone - 62,749 minutes
Kidd - 56,199 minutes

55,000 minutes seems like the upper limit where most guys just start running on fumes and their odometers are pretty much done.

For Lebron to catch Kareem, he'd have to cross that 60,000 minute barrier which is just so daunting and basically historic and unprecedented for a perimeter player. It will be interesting to see where Lebron ends up, but wear and tear and just the sheer amount of minutes he's already played are going to work against him. It will be an outstanding accomplishment just to catch Jordan on the scoring list IMO.

What LeBron has that Kobe and Jordan didn't have is size. He can pretty easily convert to a power forward and spend several years basically playing Karl Malone's game of posting up, mid range shots and even take advantage of his 3-point range. Jordan obviously had a great post game, but he also couldn't just play post. His game required athleticism. LeBron would be successful playing an NBA game that didn't really require him to move like has has his first decade in the NBA.

No doubt LeBron is going to evolve into a post playing power forward, he's not going to have much of a choice if he wants to play at a high level more than another 2 or 3 years. My question is does he have a hall of fame player odometer (~55,000 minutes) or a superhuman abnormal odometer (60,000+ minutes). Every player reaches that point where they can't even run up and down the floor and just have to hang 'em up. For most of the greats in league history, it's been right around that 55,000 minute mark.

Will be very interesting to see. Same with Kobe and Duncan. Kobe's at 55,415 minutes and obviously is breaking down at an alarming rate. Can he get past Jason Kidd, let alone to 60,000? Duncan is at 54,545 minutes and counting. Can he get to 60,000 minutes? Perhaps, but he's been on a minutes restriction plan for nearly a decade and is only averaging around 1,000 points/season these days, so he isn't a threat to catch Jordan and isn't the best template for how to catch Kareem on the scoring list.

For Lebron to catch Kareem, he'll have to go past 60,000 minutes while still maintaining 2,000 minutes/season and maintaining about 1600 points/season all the way through about his 20th season in the league. Just seems incredibly daunting, especially since he's not 7'1" and doesn't have an unathletic unstoppable go-to sky hook like Kareem had. I think he has a decent chance to pass Jordan, but Kareem looks too insurmountable.

Well, I guess it's good he's got something to look forward to, because he's probably not getting anymore rings.

Kobe is selfish and that has forced him to play on garbage teams. If Lebron and Kyrie stick together which I'm guessing so. They will remain a playoff team for many years. Kyrie at some point will take over as the leader of the Cavs. As good as he is and should be for the remainder of Lebron's career. He will help Lebron statistically.

quote:

---

Well, I guess it's good he's got something to look forward to, because he's probably not getting anymore rings.

---

Lol at blinded Bron Bron hate

Playoff stats are garbage, there's no comparison there. The first round was best of three into the 1980s and best of five until 2003, so guys today are playing way more games. It's like comparing post-season baseball stats and thinking guys today were better post-season players than Mickey Mantle or Yogi Berra.

As for Lebron and more titles, until another legit superstar appears in the East, he's going to drags the Cavs to at least the Eastern Conference finals every year. Does anyone out there really think the Hawks are going to the Finals? The Wizards? The Raptors? Give me a break. Basically, Bron just needs to get his guys into the playoffs, stay healthy, let the powers in the West beat each other senseless and then hope to win 4 out of 7 in June. He's got himself in a great position, even if he, Kyrie and Love have struggled to co-exist this year. The East is godawful, and looks to remain that way for the next few years.

top 1

Solid bump, just to see the old quotes.


It is Super Bowl week, and the NBA has done a decent job of making some sound.

Kyrie trade.
Kareem's record broken
Trade deadline

Damn. He actually has done what I knew he would have to do to break the record.

He is at 64,777 minutes played and counting. He's got a legit shot at reaching 70,000 career minutes which is literally unprecedented and has been impossible for any NBA player.

His training regiment/program/methods etc will be copied by athletes for years to come as the prime example of how to maximize longevity in an athletic career.

Motel California said:

---

Kobe is selfish and that has forced him to play on garbage teams. If Lebron and Kyrie stick together which I'm guessing so. They will remain a playoff team for many years. Kyrie at some point will take over as the leader of the Cavs. As good as he is and should be for the remainder of Lebron's career. He will help Lebron statistically.

---