LeBron James just achieved an incredible milestone: he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points to break the NBA’s all time scoring record. 

From the start of his career, Lebron seemed destined to break it. He was highly acclaimed coming into the NBA, drafted with the first pick, and was viewed as one of the best prospects ever - even before he played a single NBA game. Twenty seasons, four championships (with three different teams), nineteen All-star appearances, four MVP awards and almost 40 thousand points later, he has somehow exceeded the expectations put on him when he was drafted in 2003.

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After finishing high school, LeBron James decided against attending university, because he didn’t see much financial gain, and because he was already being looked at as a top prospect.“Me and my mom didn’t have anything and we wouldn’t be able to benefit at all from it. The university would be able to capitalize on everything, during the time I would be there for that one year or two years,” explained LeBron, later in his career.

For most players, it would take some time to get used to playing in the highest level of basketball, but LeBron James enjoyed a smooth transition into the pros. He averaged 20.9 points per game, winning rookie of the year. His great start to his career, in addition to being only 19 years old, was a sign of things to come. He played 6 more seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, never averaging less than 27 points per game. In 2010, he was already recognized as a generational talent, but he was still missing a championship on his resume. That is why he left Cleveland. He was going to win a championship.

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That is exactly what he did, bringing back-to-back championships to Miami, helped in big part by Chris Bosh and Dwane Wade. He stayed in Miami for 4 seasons, before returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers to prove to the world that he could win a championship with multiple teams. Once again, he proved that he could, winning his third championship in 2016. Finally, LeBron James left the Cavs for the Lakers in 2018, trying to cement his legacy as the greatest to ever play and winning his fourth championship in 2020.

Even at the age of 38, LeBron still has many points to score. The record stood unbroken for almost four decades, but it might take even longer for it to be broken again. It’s hard to imagine another player being able to sustain that kind of dominance for that long. Especially because there are only 7 players within 10,000 points of him and none of them are still playing. With LeBron James becoming the scoring king, the GOAT debate will continue to heat up.