lebron is the nba's all-time leading scorer

[mscott59]

fade away jumper late in the 3rd quarter last night pushed beyond kareem abdul-jabbar as the greatest points producer in league history. I remember back in early '98, had gone back up to canton to see my alma mater play a ohio hs tournament game, and one of my buddies had asked if I'd heard of this 8th grader in akron who was creating lots of buzz. I laughed, said no, and asked what 8th grader can possibly create 'buzz'?

the next year, as a freshman, everyone found out the buzz was true. took my dad to see st vincent-st mary's play in a couple district tournament games. james was a wiry 6'1/6'2, and he was easily the most complete hs player I'd ever seen. used to attend all the state semi-finals/finals back then, and his team sold out the 19,000 seat schottenstein center on the tosu campus for each of the next 4 years, winning 2 straight titles, getting upset his junior year, then coming back to win again his senior season (including destroying my hs, canton south, in a semi-final). again, his game grew and became even more complete; inside/outside, offense/defense, passing/scoring. but the talk of him skipping college entirely and going pro? again I was skeptical.

fast forward 20 years, 38,000+ points, 4 nba titles, 10 finals (I think), becoming the first player in half a century to play in 5 straight finals (he would eventually play in 8 straight, 4 each w/miami and cleveland), only 1 season where he averaged under 25/game (his rookie season, averaging 21) and 29/game in the playoffs. he's not been perfect but he's still led a pretty admirable life off and on the court. all from a kid who grew up in poverty w/o his criminal dad and mom who moved around constantly. that's an incredible life arc.

[Walter]

I gotta say, I thought Kareem's record was one of those that would never be broken...
Congrats to LeBron.

[DrSchadenfreude]

Damn.  Tempus fugit.  (Time flies.)

What happened to the past 20 years?   Work, work, work, trying to be a dad.  Time warp.

I well remember that 2003 draft, where Cleveland picked LeBron at #1 and the Denver Nuggets got Carmelo Anthony at #3 after Detroit whiffed and picked Darko Milicic at #2.

I was thrilled when Denver got Carmelo, after his outstanding performance for Syracuse in the Final Four.

And everyone knew that LeBron was destined for greatness.

[daleko]

Feb 8, 2023 13:10:12 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

fade away jumper late in the 3rd quarter last night pushed beyond kareem abdul-jabbar as the greatest points producer in league history. I remember back in early '98, had gone back up to canton to see my alma mater play a ohio hs tournament game, and one of my buddies had asked if I'd heard of this 8th grader in akron who was creating lots of buzz. I laughed, said no, and asked what 8th grader can possibly create 'buzz'?

the next year, as a freshman, everyone found out the buzz was true. took my dad to see st vincent-st mary's play in a couple district tournament games. james was a wiry 6'1/6'2, and he was easily the most complete hs player I'd ever seen. used to attend all the state semi-finals/finals back then, and his team sold out the 19,000 seat schottenstein center on the tosu campus for each of the next 4 years, winning 2 straight titles, getting upset his junior year, then coming back to win again his senior season (including destroying my hs, canton south, in a semi-final). again, his game grew and became even more complete; inside/outside, offense/defense, passing/scoring. but the talk of him skipping college entirely and going pro? again I was skeptical.

fast forward 20 years, 38,000+ points, 4 nba titles, 10 finals (I think), becoming the first player in half a century to play in 5 straight finals (he would eventually play in 8 straight, 4 each w/miami and cleveland), only 1 season where he averaged under 25/game (his rookie season, averaging 21) and 29/game in the playoffs. he's not been perfect but he's still led a pretty admirable life off and on the court. all from a kid who grew up in poverty w/o his criminal dad and mom who moved around constantly. that's an incredible life arc.

Props to Lebron. Just playing that long, at such a high level, in the NBA, is an achievement.
Sidebar: Do you think he's the GOAT in the NBA? I'd go w Wilt. 

[mscott59]

Feb 9, 2023 17:46:45 GMT -5 daleko said:

Feb 8, 2023 13:10:12 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

fade away jumper late in the 3rd quarter last night pushed beyond kareem abdul-jabbar as the greatest points producer in league history. I remember back in early '98, had gone back up to canton to see my alma mater play a ohio hs tournament game, and one of my buddies had asked if I'd heard of this 8th grader in akron who was creating lots of buzz. I laughed, said no, and asked what 8th grader can possibly create 'buzz'?

the next year, as a freshman, everyone found out the buzz was true. took my dad to see st vincent-st mary's play in a couple district tournament games. james was a wiry 6'1/6'2, and he was easily the most complete hs player I'd ever seen. used to attend all the state semi-finals/finals back then, and his team sold out the 19,000 seat schottenstein center on the tosu campus for each of the next 4 years, winning 2 straight titles, getting upset his junior year, then coming back to win again his senior season (including destroying my hs, canton south, in a semi-final). again, his game grew and became even more complete; inside/outside, offense/defense, passing/scoring. but the talk of him skipping college entirely and going pro? again I was skeptical.

fast forward 20 years, 38,000+ points, 4 nba titles, 10 finals (I think), becoming the first player in half a century to play in 5 straight finals (he would eventually play in 8 straight, 4 each w/miami and cleveland), only 1 season where he averaged under 25/game (his rookie season, averaging 21) and 29/game in the playoffs. he's not been perfect but he's still led a pretty admirable life off and on the court. all from a kid who grew up in poverty w/o his criminal dad and mom who moved around constantly. that's an incredible life arc.

Props to Lebron. Just playing that long, at such a high level, in the NBA, is an achievement.
Sidebar: Do you think he's the GOAT in the NBA? I'd go w Wilt. 

‘goat’ has many definitions. wilt was incredible yet russell had 11 rings. my favorite player, the logo, was incredible yet only got 1 ring, again thx to russell. oscar was the first true triple threat star who could play outside or inside. jabbar was wilt 2.0. magic was unreal. larry legend. michael goes w/o saying.

and yet I’d take lebron becuase of his combos. 4 rings but 10 finals. an incredible high level of sustained excellence scoring, rebounding and assisting, longer than any of the others. plus he raised his team’s play imho more than most elite players. I’d say half of those 10 finals had rosters that had no business getting as far as they did, except for james. imho

[daleko]

Feb 9, 2023 20:49:03 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Feb 9, 2023 17:46:45 GMT -5 daleko said:

Props to Lebron. Just playing that long, at such a high level, in the NBA, is an achievement.
Sidebar: Do you think he's the GOAT in the NBA? I'd go w Wilt. 

‘goat’ has many definitions. wilt was incredible yet russell had 11 rings. my favorite player, the logo, was incredible yet only got 1 ring, again thx to russell. oscar was the first true triple threat star who could play outside or inside. jabbar was wilt 2.0. magic was unreal. larry legend. michael goes w/o saying.

and yet I’d take lebron becuase of his combos. 4 rings but 10 finals. an incredible high level of sustained excellence scoring, rebounding and assisting, longer than any of the others. plus he raised his team’s play imho more than most elite players. I’d say half of those 10 finals had rosters that had no business getting as far as they did, except for james. imho

Thanks. A compelling argument.

[Mickey34jb]

Feb 8, 2023 13:10:12 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

fade away jumper late in the 3rd quarter last night pushed beyond kareem abdul-jabbar as the greatest points producer in league history. I remember back in early '98, had gone back up to canton to see my alma mater play a ohio hs tournament game, and one of my buddies had asked if I'd heard of this 8th grader in akron who was creating lots of buzz. I laughed, said no, and asked what 8th grader can possibly create 'buzz'?

the next year, as a freshman, everyone found out the buzz was true. took my dad to see st vincent-st mary's play in a couple district tournament games. james was a wiry 6'1/6'2, and he was easily the most complete hs player I'd ever seen. used to attend all the state semi-finals/finals back then, and his team sold out the 19,000 seat schottenstein center on the tosu campus for each of the next 4 years, winning 2 straight titles, getting upset his junior year, then coming back to win again his senior season (including destroying my hs, canton south, in a semi-final). again, his game grew and became even more complete; inside/outside, offense/defense, passing/scoring. but the talk of him skipping college entirely and going pro? again I was skeptical.

fast forward 20 years, 38,000+ points, 4 nba titles, 10 finals (I think), becoming the first player in half a century to play in 5 straight finals (he would eventually play in 8 straight, 4 each w/miami and cleveland), only 1 season where he averaged under 25/game (his rookie season, averaging 21) and 29/game in the playoffs. he's not been perfect but he's still led a pretty admirable life off and on the court. all from a kid who grew up in poverty w/o his criminal dad and mom who moved around constantly. that's an incredible life arc.

I was at his first home game in 2003 vs Denver ( with Carmelo Anthony)___still have the rookie poster they passed out that night

[arkon]

Feb 9, 2023 17:46:45 GMT -5 daleko said:

Feb 8, 2023 13:10:12 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

fade away jumper late in the 3rd quarter last night pushed beyond kareem abdul-jabbar as the greatest points producer in league history. I remember back in early '98, had gone back up to canton to see my alma mater play a ohio hs tournament game, and one of my buddies had asked if I'd heard of this 8th grader in akron who was creating lots of buzz. I laughed, said no, and asked what 8th grader can possibly create 'buzz'?

the next year, as a freshman, everyone found out the buzz was true. took my dad to see st vincent-st mary's play in a couple district tournament games. james was a wiry 6'1/6'2, and he was easily the most complete hs player I'd ever seen. used to attend all the state semi-finals/finals back then, and his team sold out the 19,000 seat schottenstein center on the tosu campus for each of the next 4 years, winning 2 straight titles, getting upset his junior year, then coming back to win again his senior season (including destroying my hs, canton south, in a semi-final). again, his game grew and became even more complete; inside/outside, offense/defense, passing/scoring. but the talk of him skipping college entirely and going pro? again I was skeptical.

fast forward 20 years, 38,000+ points, 4 nba titles, 10 finals (I think), becoming the first player in half a century to play in 5 straight finals (he would eventually play in 8 straight, 4 each w/miami and cleveland), only 1 season where he averaged under 25/game (his rookie season, averaging 21) and 29/game in the playoffs. he's not been perfect but he's still led a pretty admirable life off and on the court. all from a kid who grew up in poverty w/o his criminal dad and mom who moved around constantly. that's an incredible life arc.

Props to Lebron. Just playing that long, at such a high level, in the NBA, is an achievement.
Sidebar: Do you think he's the GOAT in the NBA? I'd go w Wilt. 

I've always gone with Wilt, and I've yet to see anyone come close to changing my mind. 💯

[Mickey34jb]

Mar 7, 2023 16:14:59 GMT -5 arkon said:

Feb 9, 2023 17:46:45 GMT -5 daleko said:

Props to Lebron. Just playing that long, at such a high level, in the NBA, is an achievement.
Sidebar: Do you think he's the GOAT in the NBA? I'd go w Wilt. 

I've always gone with Wilt, and I've yet to see anyone come close to changing my mind. 💯

I'm hoping Pete Maravich's college scoring record doesn't get broken____We'll find out in a few days if Mercey's Davis plays in that sham tournament. He needs 4 points to break it

[arkon]

Mar 9, 2023 8:29:57 GMT -5 Mickey34jb said:

Mar 7, 2023 16:14:59 GMT -5 arkon said:

I've always gone with Wilt, and I've yet to see anyone come close to changing my mind. 💯

I'm hoping Pete Maravich's college scoring record doesn't get broken____We'll find out in a few days if Mercey's Davis plays in that sham tournament. He needs 4 points to break it

I loved ol' Floppy Socks, lol.
If the NCAA had had the 3 point shot in Maravich's time at LSU, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And maybe the same could be said about his NBA career?

[Mickey34jb]

Mar 9, 2023 8:57:43 GMT -5 arkon said:

Mar 9, 2023 8:29:57 GMT -5 Mickey34jb said:

I'm hoping Pete Maravich's college scoring record doesn't get broken____We'll find out in a few days if Mercey's Davis plays in that sham tournament. He needs 4 points to break it

I loved ol' Floppy Socks, lol.
If the NCAA had had the 3 point shot in Maravich's time at LSU, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And maybe the same could be said about his NBA career?

IF the NCAA allowed freshman to play back then__the scoring record would've been out of reach.

[arkon]

Mar 9, 2023 10:06:33 GMT -5 Mickey34jb said:

Mar 9, 2023 8:57:43 GMT -5 arkon said:

I loved ol' Floppy Socks, lol.
If the NCAA had had the 3 point shot in Maravich's time at LSU, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And maybe the same could be said about his NBA career?

IF the NCAA allowed freshman to play back then__the scoring record would've been out of reach.

Oh yeh, I didn't think about that. So I looked into it, and someone calculated ~ or estimated ~ that, with the 3 pointer available, Maravich would've averaged close to 50 pts a game at LSU.

[beuycek]

Mar 9, 2023 10:24:47 GMT -5 arkon said:

Mar 9, 2023 10:06:33 GMT -5 Mickey34jb said:

IF the NCAA allowed freshman to play back then__the scoring record would've been out of reach.

Oh yeh, I didn't think about that. So I looked into it, and someone calculated ~ or estimated ~ that, with the 3 pointer available, Maravich would've averaged close to 50 pts a game at LSU.

We had a guy here locally named Toney Mack who was the leading scorer in county history despite only playing three years and without a 3-point shot. Back in those days, high schools were only 10-12 grade so he missed out on a fourth year and the three point shot wasn't implemented until after he was gone (he graduated in '85). He routinely pulled up from 20+ feet so we often wondered how many more points he would have scored with the extra year and the benefit of the 3-point shot since most of his buckets were from deep.

Toney went on the play at Georgia where he averaged 17.6 and 15.3ppg his Soph and Junior years before flunking out. He finished as a career .383 3-point shooter before being drafted in the 2nd round by the 76ers. Never played in the NBA then came home and got really big, like 350lbs big, but would still show up at the park and shoot the lights out. Ridiculous talent.

Couple of additional notes about Toney... he was the high school teammate of former NBA player Dwayne Schintzius. The gym used to be packed when they played together. Haven't seen anything like that around these parts since they played together.

And lastly, I was almost a part of history when Toney's county scoring record was first broken. A former AAU teammate of mine was 52 points away from breaking Toney's record when they came to our place for my last home game. News crews, newspaper reporters, etc. all showed up to cover the game. We kept it close before they pulled away early in the fourth quarter when his coach pulled him out. He had scored 50 and his coach wanted him to break the record at home in their next game, which he did with the first shot he took... a 3-pointer.

The county scoring record is now held by current NBA player Kevin Knox. Of course, he had four years and the 3-point shot to his advantage...

[arkon]

Mar 9, 2023 13:38:09 GMT -5 beuycek said:

Mar 9, 2023 10:24:47 GMT -5 arkon said:

Oh yeh, I didn't think about that. So I looked into it, and someone calculated ~ or estimated ~ that, with the 3 pointer available, Maravich would've averaged close to 50 pts a game at LSU.

We had a guy here locally named Toney Mack who was the leading scorer in county history despite only playing three years and without a 3-point shot. Back in those days, high schools were only 10-12 grade so he missed out on a fourth year and the three point shot wasn't implemented until after he was gone (he graduated in '85). He routinely pulled up from 20+ feet so we often wondered how many more points he would have scored with the extra year and the benefit of the 3-point shot since most of his buckets were from deep.

Toney went on the play at Georgia where he averaged 17.6 and 15.3ppg his Soph and Junior years before flunking out. He finished as a career .383 3-point shooter before being drafted in the 2nd round by the 76ers. Never played in the NBA then came home and got really big, like 350lbs big, but would still show up at the park and shoot the lights out. Ridiculous talent.

Couple of additional notes about Toney... he was the high school teammate of former NBA player Dwayne Schintzius. The gym used to be packed when they played together. Haven't seen anything like that around these parts since they played together.

And lastly, I was almost a part of history when Toney's county scoring record was first broken. A former AAU teammate of mine was 52 points away from breaking Toney's record when they came to our place for my last home game. News crews, newspaper reporters, etc. all showed up to cover the game. We kept it close before they pulled away early in the fourth quarter when his coach pulled him out. He had scored 50 and his coach wanted him to break the record at home in their next game, which he did with the first shot he took... a 3-pointer.

The county scoring record is now held by current NBA player Kevin Knox. Of course, he had four years and the 3-point shot to his advantage...

Shooting EXhibitions like that are a blast. As many games as I've been to, I've never seen a really great one. Thank God for TV. And YouTube.
But we did have a guy in HS named Warren something or another; 5'7" with a 38" vertical leap, and really quick too. Couldn't shoot worth a damn, though.😄