After passing Karl Malone for second on the NBA's all-time scoring list, which happened Saturday night, the question becomes when could Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James reach the top by surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
Malone retired after the 2003-04 season having played until he was 40, finishing 1,459 points shy of Abdul-Jabbar's record total of 38,387. Abdul-Jabbar, who retired in 1989 after a 20-year career, has been safe atop the scoring leaderboard for more than three decades. Before James, nobody besides Malone got within 4,700 points of Abdul-Jabbar's mark.
Now, James becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer seems inevitable if he stays healthy. James would pass Abdul-Jabbar in his 20th season if he manages to repeat this year's point total, which has come on his highest scoring average (29.7 PPG) since 2009-10.
Still playing at an All-NBA level, James has said he wants to continue playing beyond the end of his current contract after next season. He could become the first NBA player to score 40,000 points.
When can we expect James to potentially pass Abdul-Jabbar? And is there anyone on the horizon who might eventually threaten the NBA scoring record? Let's take a look at the future of the points leaderboard.