LeBron's GOAT ranking if he finishes his career as the all-time leading scorer?

D.Brasco · Post #1 » by **D.Brasco** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:56 pm

Hypothetically if LeBron's personal accolades stay the same from this point on ward in his career, 3 rings, 3 FMVP, 4 MVP's etc. but he overtakes Kareem as the NBA all-time scorer and also finishes with ~10,000 reb, ~10,000 asists.

Would his career statistics be enough to secure the GOAT ranking?

Jaivl · Post #2 » by **Jaivl** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:16 pm

Very clear GOAT. That means more gap over whoever is #2 now.

Missing Rings · Post #3 » by **Missing Rings** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:20 pm

Great case over Russell.

Sent from my SM-G920P using RealGM mobile app

Amares · Post #4 » by **Amares** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:40 pm

He's GOAT already

dynamic duo · Post #5 » by **dynamic duo** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:55 pm

lebron is the goat and has already been the best player in the finals for 6-7 times now at the age of 33 but it wouldn't be even close if he also ends up with 40k/10k/10k, that's just bananas.

euroleague · Post #6 » by **euroleague** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:07 pm

dynamic duo wrote:lebron is the goat and has already been the best player in the finals for 6-7 times now at the age of 33 but it wouldn't be even close if he also ends up with 40k/10k/10k, that's just bananas.

You realize MJ has 6 FMVPs, because he wasn’t just the best but was good enough to win

I guess it depends how he does it. If he dominates while doing it and is better than he is now by a huge amount, then who knows.

Just getting worse and shooting at a high volume with the terrible defense he had this year won’t move the needle for me. He’s already so terrible defensively, his actual play is much worse than the numbers indicate (his offensive numbers haven’t dropped much, and are higher volume than 13).

His DRAPM was what, dead last? Just stat padding on offense isn’t meaningful in terms of GOAT ranking if someone is terrible defensively, unless his offense improves dramatically

ThaRegul8r · Post #7 » by **ThaRegul8r** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:25 pm

I'll ask the same question I asked when people asked this same question about Kobe.

Since Kareem's the all-time leading scorer now, is he your current GOAT?

Joao Saraiva · Post #8 » by **Joao Saraiva** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:58 pm

Irrelevant for me. It's about his global production and how good he is year by year. Right now I have him with a great case for GOAT, Idk yet if he's my GOAT but I lean towards yes

bledredwine · Post #9 » by **bledredwine** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:25 pm

IM sorry to break it to you guys. I know how badly you want it and all, but Lebron will not be considered GOAT when he retires, has had a ton of time to do that already, and when a new guy comes along, he likely won’t be top three in many of these lists as he is now, just the same as kobe.

Brooklyn_Ball33 · Post #10 » by **Brooklyn_Ball33** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:42 pm

#2. Can't pass Jordan with just 3 rings. Wilt has 3 rings and is more statistically dominant than anyone in history, yet most don't consider him the GOAT or even top 3. 4-5 rings and there's a discussion.

Post #11 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:35 am

ThaRegul8r wrote:I'll ask the same question I asked when people asked this same question about Kobe.

Since Kareem's the all-time leading scorer now, is he your current GOAT?

Thank you.

MyUniBroDavis · Post #12 » by **MyUniBroDavis** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:49 am

Brooklyn_Ball33 wrote:#2. Can't pass Jordan with just 3 rings. Wilt has 3 rings and is more statistically dominant than anyone in history, yet most don't consider him the GOAT or even top 3. 4-5 rings and there's a discussion.

Wilt has 2, and only one in his prime

nurseryc · Post #13 » by **nurseryc** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:58 am

D.Brasco wrote:Hypothetically if LeBron's personal accolades stay the same from this point on ward in his career, 3 rings, 3 FMVP, 4 MVP's etc. but he overtakes Kareem as the NBA all-time scorer and also finishes with ~10,000 reb, ~10,000 asists.

Would his career statistics be enough to secure the GOAT ranking?

No. MJ was just on another level.

page · Post #14 » by **page** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:36 am

I don't think something as irrelevant as Most Career Points would sway those who don't have Lebron as #1 today.

RCM88x · Post #15 » by **RCM88x** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:08 pm

I don't think an achievement like that really makes much of a difference to me.

Post #16 » by **fanofthegreats** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:37 pm

bledredwine wrote:IM sorry to break it to you guys. I know how badly you want it and all, but Lebron will not be considered GOAT when he retires, has had a ton of time to do that already, and when a new guy comes along, he likely won’t be top three in many of these lists as he is now, just the same as kobe.

lol okay? His level of play definitely puts him in the discussion. Not sure if we will see a lifetime talent with his longetivity ever again, so we shall wait on that hypothetical guy. He is pretty solidified in the top three.

bledredwine · Post #17 » by **bledredwine** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:54 pm

nurseryc wrote:
D.Brasco wrote:Hypothetically if LeBron's personal accolades stay the same from this point on ward in his career, 3 rings, 3 FMVP, 4 MVP's etc. but he overtakes Kareem as the NBA all-time scorer and also finishes with ~10,000 reb, ~10,000 asists.

Would his career statistics be enough to secure the GOAT ranking?

No. MJ was just on another level.

Oh, and this, btw, is the answer. I encourage anyone to stop looking just at (yes currently inflated) stats and to watch some jordan playoff series. The answer becomes apparent, especially in the final minutes of games.

D.Brasco · Post #18 » by **D.Brasco** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 4:35 pm

page wrote:I don't think something as irrelevant as Most Career Points would sway those who don't have Lebron as #1 today.

I think Kareem's point record is definitely not considered irrelevant. The NBA doesn't "worship" career totals as much as baseball or maybe even NFL but Kareem's record is arguably the most famous career stat in pro-basketball.

mcraft · Post #19 » by **mcraft** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:47 pm

bledredwine wrote:
nurseryc wrote:
D.Brasco wrote:Hypothetically if LeBron's personal accolades stay the same from this point on ward in his career, 3 rings, 3 FMVP, 4 MVP's etc. but he overtakes Kareem as the NBA all-time scorer and also finishes with ~10,000 reb, ~10,000 asists.

Would his career statistics be enough to secure the GOAT ranking?

No. MJ was just on another level.

Oh, and this, btw, is the answer. I encourage anyone to stop looking just at (yes currently inflated) stats and to watch some jordan playoff series. The answer becomes apparent, especially in the final minutes of games.

It might not be the answer, some have people besides Jordan or LeBron as goat. It's all subjective opinion.

Ainosterhaspie · Post #20 » by **Ainosterhaspie** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:41 pm

I don't really like the available choices. I don't think the all time leading scorer mark moves the needle much for him. He should be able to hit the mark fairly easily if he just committed himself to shooting for it, especially if he's on a bad team. He could hit the mark in as little as four years (1,850 points per season doable scoring 26 points per game playing 70 games per season) and probably hits in in six at the most (1,225 points per season doable scoring 18 per game playing 70 games per season) barring significant injury.

I have him as GOAT already, so I went with first option.