Six days before turning 31, Giannis Antetokounmpo became the sixth-youngest NBA player to reach the milestone of 21,000 points in his career on Saturday night against the Nets.
While he quickly celebrated this great achievement, the Bucks star has his eyes on a higher prize: the all-time NBA scoring record.
LeBron James’s record of 42,250 points is constantly rising because James is still playing, thus Antetokounmpo has a long way to go before breaking it. James’s total is more than double of what Antetokounmpo has in his 13th season—the Lakers great is in his 23rd season. Based on this calculation, Antetokounmpo is unlikely to surpass James’s record.
However, this doesn’t make him less confident. Not only does Antetokounmpo believe he will become the all-time scoring leader, he thinks he might achieve it in just four or five years.
“I think getting to the top of the scoring list is not six, seven or eight years away. I think it’s, in my opinion, I think it’s four years away—four or five years away, four and a half years away. I think when I’m going to be 35 years old and sitting in this chair, want to have a discussion of I am in the top list of all-time in scoring. And, I would have talked that into existence and not just talk that into existence because I believe that I’m going to do it, it’s something that I want to do.”
Giannis reflects on scoring 21,000 career points and being the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to do so. pic.twitter.com/prRIjGazTp
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 30, 2025
To surpass James, Antetokounmpo would still need to score 21,000 more points, which would need him to average at least 30 points per game across 700 games. The Milwaukee star would have to play in all 82 games for the following 8.5 seasons as a result, making it almost impossible for him to accomplish this goal in four or five years.
The two-time MVP is presently averaging 30.9 points through 15 games this season. His 21,002 all-time points places him in the 42nd position in the all-time scoring rankings.
