It’s on! The new NBA season is officially underway, and that means a few things are happening: Our man Shaquille O’Neal is back on the set of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show with the regular cast of characters… And the early-season predictions and prognostications are already underway.
As for Shaq, he’s already talking about his favorite team – the LA Lakers – and their superstar player (one among many) – LeBron James. Seems O’Neal is already talking G.O.A.T. talk for King James.
Visiting Staples Center, signing autographs and talking to the press earlier this week, Shaq told a sports reporter for the Los Angeles Times newspaper that James passes Hall of Famer and Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to grab the title of all-time leading scorer in NBA history, there would be no doubt that, in Shaq’s own words, “LeBron is the best player — ever.”
How about MJ, Michael Jordan, widely considered the best-ever in the NBA… Someone James himself has had nothing but respect and admiration for?
Talking about Jordan and James, Shaq said, “Championships are great, but he’s trying to pass Kareem up. That’s what he is doing. I know exactly what he’s doing. Cause now if you pass Kareem up, it ain’t no talk about who the best player ever is. Think about that? I saw he needed to average [25] points or something like that the next few years, which he will do. He can do that in two more years.”
Indeed, James averaged 25 points per game last season, and he’s averaged 27 PPG in his 18 years in the NBA. LeBon is currently ranking third in all-time scoring, behind Kareem and Karl Malone. For those who want the numbers: LeBron has (so far) 35,367 points (at the time of this writing…it’ll be more when you read it) behind Abdul-Jabbar at 38,387 and Malone at 36,928.
So if James were to average at least 25 points over the next two seasons, he would pass Abdul-Jabbar sometime during the 2022-23 season, taking about 120 games to do so.
The years are adding up, for sure. James turns 37 in December. He’s already won four Championship four, one with the Lakers in 2020.
Simply put, by Shaq, “He’s got four rings and he becomes the highest scorer in NBA history. He’s the best ever. Ain’t nothing you can say. Cause if I would have passed Wilt [Chamberlain] in scoring, you know me. I would have been, ‘I’m the most dominant ever.’ I don’t want to hear [Chamberlain’s] name no more.”
For the record, O’Neal ranks eighth all-time in scoring (28,596) behind seventh-placed Chamberlain (31,419).
If the big numbers come, they’ll most likely happen in a Lakers uni. James is signed with LA for two more seasons, making $41.1 million this season and $44.4 million next season.
For Shaq, the rings are great, no doubt. But the big numbers are huge, too. “I mean, that’s what he is really trying to do,” O’Neal said. “Ring No. 5 would be cool, but if he gets that leading scorer, the highest scorer ever in the league … I’d take that.”
The season is underway… Only thing to do now is hang on and enjoy the ride. Let’s see where King James and the rest of the Lakers go this year!