LeBron James passes '80s legend for 12th on all-time scoring list
LeBron James passed Dominique Wilkins for 12th on the NBA's all-time scoring list Thursday, dropping 24 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 107-87 rout of the Brooklyn Nets.
James (26,699 career points) passed Wilkins (26,668) late in the first quarter on an and-1 layup:
James is now 11 points behind Oscar Robertson (26,710 career points) for 11th on the all-time list, and should easily pass him in the next game he plays in.
After that, Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946 career points) stands in James' way of cracking the top 10 all-time. With only seven games remaining this season, and James averaging 25.0 points per game, he's on pace to score another 175 (or so) points this season. That would leave him at 26,874 career points, 72 points behind Olajuwon.
Of course, with the No. 1 overall seed in the East almost wrapped up, the Cavs could choose to rest James down the stretch, making it even less likely he passes Olajuwon.
How high could James rise by the end of the 2016-17 season?
Well, James has scored an averaged of 1,861 points per season over the past three years, meaning that, if we assume he's as 26,874 heading into next season, he would finish the 2016-17 season with 28,735 points -- good for 7th all-time, right behind Dirk Nowitzki (29,376 and counting) and just ahead of Shaquille O'Neal (28,596).
James could pass Nowitzki and enter the top six by the end of the 2017-18 season, when he'd be 33 years old, and with another few years left in his career (at least), has a reasonable chance to pass Kobe Bryant (33,464 and counting) and approach Karl Malone (36,928) for second all-time.
Passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) remains a long shot, but James has been the youngest to every 1,000th point, so nothing's out of the question yet.
Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.
