LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers scored more than 40,000 points in his career on Saturday, which made us wonder what superstar Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks would need to do to accomplish the same feat before his career ends.
Superstar LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers recently became the first player to ever surpass 40,000 career points in a loss to the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on Saturday. James had previously established himself as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer from the previous season. James finished with 26 points, for a total of 40,017 points throughout his career.
Can Luka Doncic break LeBron James’s record?
We began to consider what young Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic would need to accomplish over the course of his career to achieve that apparently unachievable milestone in light of James’ most recent feat. Doncic, who turned 25 this week, leads the NBA in scoring this year with 34.5 points per game. In 382 career games, he has scored 10,892 points.
Doncic would rank 11,651 after six complete NBA seasons if he plays in all 22 of the Mavs’ remaining games and keeps up his 34.5 point per game average.
It would take Doncic over 12 more full seasons to surpass 40,000 career points even if he averaged 30 points per game and participated in all 82 games moving forward. Let’s be honest, though—that won’t happen given the ridiculous workload he has to shoulder each season.
Perhaps Doncic could reach that level if he plays for 20 seasons or longer and maintains his amazing scoring pace. But as James has demonstrated, it takes extraordinary perseverance and longevity to get there, and in addition, Doncic is unsure if he can continue playing for that long.
When asked by former colleague J.J. Redick if he ever considered surpassing LeBron’s record, Doncic responded as follows: “No,” “I am not playing that long, no chance. I’m going to have my own farm in Slovenia.”
Doncic says as much right now, but if his health permits and the Mavs win a few titles soon, the 25-year-old sensation may find it impossible to resist the want for more. Obsessiveness and greatness go hand in hand, and Doncic is capable of pursuing LeBron if he sets his mind to it.