Array
James Harden averaged 36 points a few seasons ago. Devin Booker once scored 70 in one game.
There are many more players doing much more scoring now than when LeBron James began his NBA career in 2003-04. Tracy McGrady led the league with 28 points per game that season, a mark that nine players would currently be surpassing.
With the faster pace of play and the plethora of 3-pointers, there are plenty of chances for players to pile up the points. But a look at Harden shows how hard it will be for even an elite scorer to keep doing it long enough to challenge wherever the scoring mark is when James finally retires.
He averaged 36.1 points in 2019-20 and 34.3 the next season. Maintain those kinds of numbers for 75 games a season and a player would be flirting with 40,000 points in a mere 15 years — though that still probably wouldn’t be enough to reach where James will put the record that’s now 38,390.
But then circumstances changed. A trade first to Brooklyn and then Philadelphia meant having to share shots with fellow All-Stars, and a severe hamstring injury robbed Harden of much of his explosiveness. He hasn’t even averaged 25 points since and now doesn’t get much past 20.
Count Booker among those who think James will never be caught.
“You might be able to do it for five seasons or 10, but 20 seasons at what he’s done, I don’t think it will ever be done again,” the Phoenix Suns star said.
