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Tuesday, November 03, 2015

LeBron James Becomes 24th--and Youngest--Member of the 25,000 Point Club

On Monday night, LeBron James became just the 24th member of pro basketball's 25,000 point club. At 30 years, 307 days, he is easily the youngest player to achieve this milestone, surpassing Kobe Bryant's record (31 years, 351 days). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who broke Wilt Chamberlain's once seemingly untouchable mark of 31,419 points in 1984, ranks number one with 38,387 points but his 30-plus year reign as king of the all-time scorers may be in jeopardy in six or seven years if James stays healthy.

Shamefully, the NBA still ignores ABA statistics and pretends that Julius Erving, Dan Issel, George Gervin and Rick Barry--four Hall of Famers who played in both the ABA and the NBA--did not join the 25,000 point club. As long as the NBA sends that quartet's names down some Orwellian memory hole, I will make a point of mentioning those names every time I write an article about the 25,000 point club.  

James' accomplishment brings to mind the way that he is often called a "pass first" player. I have never bought into that description because, among other things, Pass First Players Do Not Score 61 Points in a Game. As I have explained many times, James is a prodigious scorer who is also a gifted passer. Why does it matter to make a distinction between being pass-first and being a great scorer who also passes well? It is important to realize that despite all of James' skills, he did not win a championship until he embraced the challenge and responsibility of being a big-time scorer when the stakes are highest; ignoring that truth is a major distortion of basketball history and permits people to create some kind of false dichotomy between James and players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant who are celebrated for their scoring prowess (and often not given proper recognition for their playmaking skills).

During his first stint in Cleveland and during the early part of his run in Miami, James would score a lot of points during the regular season and early playoff rounds only to become bizarrely passive the deeper that he advanced in the playoffs, including no-show efforts versus Boston in the 2010 playoffs and versus Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals. After the latter debacle, when James was outplayed at critical times by Jason Terry,  Dwyane Wade implored James to accept the responsibility of carrying a heavy scoring load against elite teams. The strange thing about this is that James has the fourth highest regular season scoring average and fifth highest playoff scoring average in pro basketball history; he has spent his whole career being a dominant scorer, so it is mystifying that he mentally checked himself out of the aforementioned Boston and Dallas series. Those playoff failures did not represent James being a pass-first player; they represented him carrying his teams to the playoffs by scoring a lot of points only to let his teammates down by playing passively precisely when his scoring was needed the most. Presumably, after scoring at a high rate in the 2012 and 2013 NBA Finals while leading Miami to back to back titles, James put all of that pass-first nonsense to rest forever during last year's NBA Finals, when he very properly jacked up shots at a rate that would make even Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant blush; the short-handed Cavaliers needed for James to shoot early and often and perhaps they could have even stolen the title if James had taken more shots during the pivotal game four when the Cavaliers were trying to seize a 3-1 lead over the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

Correctly labeling James as one of the greatest scorers in pro basketball history does not in any way diminish his other skills, including passing. It does place his career and the careers of other great players in proper perspective, though. Magic Johnson was a pass-first player for the vast majority of his career and he only assumed a score-first role after Abdul-Jabbar was well past his prime. Jason Kidd was always a pass-first player. James, on the other hand, is going to lead his team in scoring and in shot attempts every year until his body breaks down. When James arrived in Miami, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had to accept lesser scoring roles, not the other way around. The same thing has held true for Kevin Love when he joined forces with James in Cleveland. Yes, James passes the ball to his teammates but he also makes sure that he is the team's leading scorer--and there is nothing wrong with that, just like there was nothing wrong with Jordan or Bryant filling a similar role during their respective primes. Other than Magic Johnson, there have not been many pass-first players who were the best player on a championship team. On the other hand, Abdul-Jabbar won six championships, Jordan won six championships and Bryant has won five championships. Erving won two ABA titles plus an NBA title and Barry put on tremendous scoring exhibitions in the 1967 and 1975 NBA Finals, leading the Warriors to the title 40 years ago.

The bottom line is that there are some very good passers in the 25,000 point club but there are no pass-first players in that elite fraternity--and that includes James. Maybe if James sticks around long enough to surpass Abdul-Jabbar as the sport's all-time leading scorer people will finally understand and accept this.

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posted by David Friedman @ 3:19 AM

16 comments

16 Comments:

At Tuesday, November 03, 2015 10:34:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting, I thought he was well ahead of Kobe's pace. Kobe had a longer lockout before they each reached 25,000, had to come off the bench for 2 years, and had to wait several years before he was his team's best player, which means fewer shot attempts. Jordan/James came in being able to shoot at will from the get-go. How will James body holdup? It looks like he'll have the benefit of always having a great team around him like Duncan, unlike Kobe. So, he'll be able to fill a lesser role probably and save his body towards the end of his career, but that's 3-5 years down the road probably. This is the 8th straight year he's had a great team around him, and being able to play the weaker East helps out. You don't have to worry about seeding at all, and will probably be #1 seed anyway. As long as they make the playoffs, anyway 1 through 8, his team will probably be favorites to win the East.

 
At Tuesday, November 03, 2015 11:13:00 AM, Blogger Nick said...

Interesting. It hadn't occurred to me that Kareem's record was in play. I wonder which other seemingly unbreakable records are in semi-danger?

Stockton's assist and steals records are probably safe.

Hakeem's block record is probably safe unless Ibaka or Jordan can average 4ish blocks a year for the next decade.

Wilt's rebounding record is untouchable for a variety of reasons.

Wilt's 100 point game will fall, probably in the next five years. All it takes is somebody like Steph Curry or Kevin Durant getting hot from deep in a game that's close enough to warrant he keep shooting. Probably will require an overtime or two, but I think it happens. We've seen enough 25-30 point quarters in the last few years that it's only a matter of time before we see somebody start stringing them together.

Lebrun's got the best shot of breaking Malone's career turnover record, though if Kobe stays healthy and plays another year or two he might do it first.

James is basically guaranteed to break the playoff scoring record. Duncan could do it too if he sticks around another 3 years and the Spurs keep contending, but I doubt he will. Kobe could do it with one or two more deep playoff runs, but I don't see that happening either.

Lebron's got an outside shot at Magic's playoff assists record, but he'll need to play deep into the post-season for a full decade to do it; probably doesn't happen. Westbrook might be able to do it too, but he'll need to stay healthy and in contention; I don't see him doing either long enough to seriously threaten it. Crazy that Magic racked up that record in just 12 years, since it'd take most current guys at least that many to break it.

Duncan will continue adding to his career playoff blocks record, but I don't see anyone catching it.

Russell's playoff rebounding record is completely untouchable for the same reasons as Wilt's regular season one.

Lebron will probably break Pippen's career playoff steals record assuming he stays healthy a few more years.

Jordan's playoff 63 is definitely going down, possibly as soon as this season. Durant, Curry, and Lebron at least are all capable of breaking it, and Thompson/Westbrook/Harden all might be on the right night against the right team.

I was gonna look at single game blocks/steals/assists/rebounds too, but Basketball reference doesn't have them pre-1985 and I'm too lazy. Off the top of my head, I think Skiles' assist record falls, whatever the block record is falls, Wilt or Russell's rebounding record stays, and whoever's steals record probably falls as well.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 4:38:00 AM, Blogger Andrew Hennings said...

That Wilt's 100 point game will fall in the next five years is an outlandish claim Nick. I can't see any support for that, either statistically or by the eye test.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 9:18:00 AM, Blogger Nick said...

Just a gut feeling, really. People are becoming more and more dangerous from 3, and it's only a matter of time until someone gets hot enough. Kobe got 81 on 46 shots including 7-13 from 3, so we know at least that much is possible in the modern NBA. Let's say a Kevin Durant or a Steph Curry has a game where they need to take 46 (Westbrook or Thompson is injured, playoff seeding is on the line) only they take 26 threes and make 19 of them, and they make four more of their twos than Kobe did, or get four more free throws. Durant's probably the more likely option here as his team can't consistently play defense and could conceivably end up in an overtime against a solid offensive but bad defensive team (Portland?), particularly if Westbrook is out. Warriors might be too deep even without Thompson for Curry to ever take 46 shots, but stranger things have happened.

Basically, I think the three is becoming more and more a staple of elite scorers' toolboxes (no one currently in the top 10 all-time in scoring was an elite three point shooter or especially close to it, but these days generally half of a given year's ten best scorers are three junkies), and I think one of those guys is eventually going to get hot on the right night with the right circumstances. I could be wrong, and it's not a hill I'm willing to die on, but I think it's gonna happen.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 10:56:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Didn't even notice about Wilt. Yea, that's way out there. Possible, sure. But, almost every record is possible. I don't think people realize how hard it is to score 20 points in an nba game, let alone 30, 40, 50, etc. Durant and Curry haven't even approached 60 before. Only 4 50-pt games for Durant, and 3 for Curry

Kobe, on the other hand, has had 24 such games in his career. He had 8 games of at least 50 pts. before he scored 81, including 51 just 3 days prior to scoring 81, and 62 through 3 quarters just a month before his 81-pt. game, outscoring DAL through 3 quarters. So, there were certainly signs of Kobe being able to score a huge amount of points in one game. Durant/Curry have shown signs of being able to score a lot, but not like Kobe. And it was over 40 years since Wilt's 100-pt game for anyone else to get to 80. Actually, only 2 games of 80+ in nba history. Wilt only did it once himself, and his game was quite bizarre towards the end. And 81 isn't very close to 100 either.

You almost need to be in the perfect situation. You need to be on a bad team or not very good team, where you are clearly the #1 offensive weapon, the best player in the nba, and probably in the middle of your prime. You have to be in a competitive game or probably behind in the game. Kobe's 81-pt game fits all these criteria. Curry is nowhere near the scorer as Kobe or even Durant, and he plays PG, so no chance. LAL was behind by 18 in Kobe's game. They actually needed Kobe to go off for them to win, and he only scored 27 in the first half. You need to get to the line a lot, like he did, as well. Guys Durant/Curry look like they'll almost always have good teams around them. So, even if they could, it's not going to happen. They'd have too much help to be forced to shoot/score that much.

And Nick, you do realize that 12 3's is the record for 3's in one game, right? You honestly think someone is going to shatter that record with 19? Again, it's possible. Plausible? Not a chance.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 12:21:00 PM, Blogger David Friedman said...

Nick:

I did not mean to suggest that Kareem's record is in imminent danger. LeBron will have to be a healthy, 25-ppg scorer through his late 30s in order to surpass Kareem and that will be a tall order since LeBron is already experiencing some back issues. My point is that it is not out of the question that LeBron will achieve this and that alone speaks volumes about what kind of scorer this supposedly "pass first" player is.

Bryant is more than 600 turnovers behind Malone and Bryant has never had 300 turnovers in a single season so I seriously doubt that Bryant will set that record.

Chamberlain's 100 point game is about as safe as any single game record can be. Sure, there are some players who could get hot but consider that the closest person yet has been Bryant, who at his peak was a more prolific scorer than anyone around today, including Durant. Bryant shot .609 from the field, .538 from three point range and .900 from the free throw line during his 81 point game--and he was still a good game (19 points) away from tying Chamberlain. Bryant's shooting percentages are worth mentioning, because I often hear people say that Bryant jacked up a lot of shots to score 81 points. It is true that 46 FGAs is a lot of shots--but that is not a lot of shots to produce 81 points! That is actually off the charts efficiency, particularly considering the volume and considering that the Lakers were getting blown out before Kobe went into beast mode.

I don't think that the single game playoff record is in immediate danger, though of course it is more in reach than Wilt's 100. Still, it is difficult to get 50 in a playoff game, let alone 63.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 12:30:00 PM, Blogger David Friedman said...

Anonymous:

I completely agree with your major points. One minor correction is that there have only been two 80-plus point games in NBA history. Wilt's other best games were 78 (in three overtimes; this was the record until Wilt scored 100), 73 (twice), 72, 70. In December 1967, after some people suggested that Wilt could not score big anymore (as opposed to deliberately shooting less per his coach's request), Wilt dropped 68 on the Bulls, making 12 straight field goal attempts at one point. He only shot 8-22 from the free throw line in that game, so 70 was in easy reach and 80 was at least mathematically possible. Wilt is probably the only player in pro basketball history who, in his prime, could get 50 or even 60 on any given night if he decided to do it. Maybe Jordan and Bryant could also have done that (50 at least, I am not sure about 60) but I am not even sure that Jordan and Bryant could get 50 at any time against any opponent the way that I am pretty sure Wilt could have done in his first eight or nine years.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 1:39:00 PM, Blogger Nick said...

Gah. Had a whole cool long post mostly speculating about Pistol Pete that I lost to a crash. Short version.

*I'm not gonna die on the "Wilt's record will be broken" hill. Like I said, it's as much a hunch as anything.

*That said, if you apply the same attempts and percentage increases to Durant or Curry's averages that Kobe has in his 81 game relative to his averages that season, they're definitely be in play.

*Basically, if they get the perfect storm of "reason to take 40+ shots, against a team that can't guard them, on a night when they're feeling it" they have a puncher's chance. Whether or not that storm ever comes is an open question.

*I think there are a couple of guys besides Jordan/Wilt/Kobe who had a season or two where they could get 50 whenever they felt like it ('00 Shaq, '86 Bird, '77 Pete, maybe Baylor or Gervin) but that they didn't feel like it as often, and didn't have nearly the length of time when they could do it.

*Pete, had he played in the three point era, might have actually had the best shot of breaking the record. Alas, we'll never know.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 1:52:00 PM, Blogger Nick said...

As for the other stuff:

*Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant Bryant could pass Malone's record if he decides to play beyond this/next season. He obviously won't get there this year. I could see him signing a two-year deal if he decides not to retire, though, and that could put him in play for it if he can stay on the court.

* I don't think Lebron will catch Kareem, but it's in play, particularly if he moves to the post more full-time as he ages (that kind of scoring tends to age better), and/or if he sticks around averaging 15-20 for a few years after losing his ability to average 25. He will need to stay healthier than I think he'll stay, but he's got by far the best shot of anyone playing today of catching it.

* I do think the playoff record is likely to be broken soon, but again this is more hunch than something I can adequately support with facts. People are shooting more 3s and refs are becoming bigger and bigger suckers for Harden-esque floppery (and, more applicably, they're calling ever more ticky tack touch fouls), and I think sooner than later those two factors will combine in somebody's favor.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 2:42:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I said: 'Actually, only 2 games of 80+ in nba history.'

Obviously, as players age, their scoring ability will decline. Even though Wilt shot less as his career progressed, probably for a variety of reasons, I don't doubt he was still able to score a lot. But, to be able to score 50 or 60 at will, that's stretching it. You just can't do this every game, even in a bad-defensive, high-paced era, and when on a team that isn't as good and you needs you to score. Wilt still only averaged 50ppg in his best scoring season. That just can't continue for many seasons if even 2 seasons, and on average, he's only scoring 50+ points half the time during that season.

Different era today or at least when Shaq was at his peak 15 years ago. Shaq absolutely dominated from 00-02, and he still couldn't average 30ppg even once. Extremely hard to see Wilt even approaching 40ppg for one season, even on a bad team, if he played today. I think Wilt's highly underrated, but his type of scoring isn't happening today. And he still only averaged over 38.4ppg 2x. I could see him averaging between 30-35 for a lot of years if he played today, though.

Nick, that's the thing, when you talk about 'the perfect storm.' This perfect storm probably happened several times for each of the players you mentioned. But, it's just not happening. Maravich only had one game over 51 points, and that was 68. I suppose with the 3 pt. shot, he could've gotten to 80, but he didn't prove he could score a lot of points in games to the extent like Kobe or Jordan. But, then again, he'd be missing more shots probably at the same time. You need a very high-paced game probably, and that's very rarely happening in today's game. None of the players you mentioned had the all-around offensive game like Kobe and Jordan. Bigs like Shaq need to be fed the ball, and easier to double-team him, and he can't make FTs. Wilt amazingly was 28-32 in his 100-point game. Kobe had or made many 'perfect storms' for himself. He scored over 40 points in the first half vs. Jordan's Wizards once. I think it was 42, and that was when he was on a good team. He scored 62 in 3 quarters vs DAL, and then 81 vs. TOR. I'm sure he had several other games that were possibilities, but he wasn't on fire as much for those games, or the games weren't close.

James has a shot of Kareem's record. Even though he might be banged up, he's been remarkably healthy throughout his entire career so far, though he doesn't seem to be able to play through even the slightest pain sometimes. I don't think playing in the post will help him that much, or at least he needs to improve in this area. He's mainly an athlete foremost, and cashes in on 'intangible points'(fastbreaks, etc.) a lot, better than almost any other player.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 3:29:00 PM, Blogger David Friedman said...

Anonymous:

Sorry, I misunderstood your previous comment to mean that there had been two 80+ point games (one by Wilt and one by Kobe) in addition to Wilt's 100 point game.

I think that during Wilt's first few seasons he was so unstoppable that if he decided on a given day, "Tonight I am going to drop 50" then he could have done it. After all, that was just an average game for him over an entire season and not that much above his average for his first seven seasons (around 37 ppg). Young Wilt scoring 50 is like a 25 ppg scorer today scoring 37 or 38. Whether or not it would have been a good idea to focus on scoring 50 above all else is another story but I think that Wilt could score 50 at will, the same way that prime MJ or Kobe could score 30 at will.

Ultimately, it is just speculation and does not matter that much. I agree with your larger point that 100 points in a game is not likely to be approached, let alone surpassed, any time soon.

It will be interesting to see how James ages. Bryant aged very well until the past two years--the Achilles injury started a downward health spiral that may not be reversible--and he was able to score a lot in the midpost area without relying on athletic ability. Wade has not aged so well; he gets injured a lot and struggles to score when he is not healthy enough to use his athletic ability. James is a bigger, better version of Wade, so he will probably age better than Wade has but when you see MJ and Kobe struggle in their late 30s/early 40s it is hard to picture James doing much better. I don't think that Kobe will keep playing beyond this season and if James lasts long enough to have a season like Kobe is having now I think that he would retire as well. Those guys are not going to hang on to be sub-20 ppg scorers the way that Kareem did in a different era when he needed money and was still contending for championships.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 3:55:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do think that during Wilt's early years when his teams weren't very good, he could just focus on scoring a lot, so yea, maybe, though as you mention, possibly detrimental to his game a bit. It wasn't going to matter much either way, as far as his team's success goes, they weren't going to win a title. But, once you're on a good enough team to contend, a player like Wilt or Jordan or Kobe could still end up averaging a lot of points, say around 30ppg, but if they focused on really scoring a lot, unless you're in a position similar to some of Jordan's teams where he was needed to score more than Kobe or Wilt when they were on good teams to an extent, it's probably going to be detrimental to your team. I don't know how focused Kobe was on just 'scoring' in 06 and 07, but he was such a prolific scorer at the height of his powers, and still only averaged 35 and 31ppg. With all the talk about no hand-checking and such, individual scoring averages have gone down. Players are so gifted today as well, but we rarely see anyone average 30ppg for a season anymore, or if they do, just barely.

Tearing your achilles is a major injury, and often is a career-ending injury or the start of a near end. Kobe and Wade have each had lots of injuries including knee problems, though Kobe has been able to play through them better and been more effective, up until his Achilles injury. James hasn't had a whiff of any major injury so far. He is lucky to be a physical freak like Wilt, and Jordan to a lesser extent.

Jordan seemed to lose interest with the game after 98. Even if he was fed up with Bulls management or whatever other reason, he could've tried to keep the Bulls together after 98 or gone onto another good team and continued playing well for a few more years probably. Duncan is in a perfect situation in SA. Pop is still there and his team continues to be stacked. He has had a much lesser role, especially offensively, for awhile now. He can save his body, and continues to have a title chance. James has had a champ.-caliber roster for at least 8 straight years now, all throughout this prime years, maybe even better than Duncan. Hard to say 4-5 years down the road, but it seems like this will continue. If it does, he'll probably keep on playing. And he'll be able to have a lesser role until playoffs, save his body some. And playing in the East surely helps as well. Kobe's teams have continued to need him to play at an elite level just for a chance to make the playoffs, while needing him to maintain his full role. This eventually caught up to him with Achilles injury. He doesn't have much to play for now. Much different situation than Duncan and others. He is struggling a lot, though he does seem to be getting good looks still, he just can't shoot right now. Hard to see him continue playing this poorly, but yea, he might be almost done. LAL is pretty bad, though, and in the West, they aren't going in anywhere. Wade has a much better team currently, and they're pretty much a lock at making the playoffs and probably getting a good seed in the East.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 4:13:00 PM, Blogger David Friedman said...

Nick:

Kobe has never been a very high volume turnover guy considering his minutes and how often the ball was in his hands but now his minutes are down, he does not handle the ball as much and it looks like he will struggle just to make it through this season, so he is not going to add much to his turnover total.

Regarding the playoff scoring record, even with the liberalization of handchecking rules and the emergence of several dynamic scorers, 50 point playoff games are not common. There have only been nine playoff games in NBA history in which a player scored at least 54 points and only two in the past 14 years (both by Iverson). Kobe made a lot of deep playoff runs and he has just one 50 point playoff game (plus a 49 and a 48). LeBron has never scored 50 in a playoff game (two 49s, one 48, one 47). If great players who win championships rarely have 50 point playoff games then the odds of anyone else doing it are not very high. If any active player is going to do challenge the record, Curry or Westbrook seem to be the most likely candidates; Curry could get hot from three, while Westbrook can get hot from anywhere for a short spurt. I don't expect either guy to get 63, though.

Harden's best is 45 and he vastly exceeded his normal shooting percentages to do that (.591 2FG%, .636 3FG%, .923 FT%) so it is hard for me to picture him scoring 63 in a playoff game. It is much more likely that 45 will stand as his playoff career high than that he will increase that number by more than a third.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 4:47:00 PM, Blogger Nick said...

Anonymous-

Neither Durant nor Curry has ever had occasion to shoot 40+ times. Durant's record is 34, Curry's is 32 (which he did only once). I am not sure that it will necessarily be one of those two players even if it does happen, though I think they're the most likely, but I did suggest that they would need at least 40 shots to do it.

Kobe, on the other hand, has shot over 40 times 9 times. Now, I'd argue he did that mostly because he had no help- which is why my hypothetical necessitates the absence of 2nd bananas- but you could make the case that Durant or Curry *wouldn't* take 40+ shots, let alone make enough of them to get to 100. You could very well be right.

But I still suspect somebody's gonna get hot in the right game.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 4:53:00 PM, Blogger Nick said...

David-

Kobe's turnovers have been trending upwards in the last third of his career; I think that if he plays three more relatively healthy years (by no means a given) he's got a good to medium chance of beating Malone's record. I also think that as long as Kobe is playing, the ball is going to be in his hands plenty; he's not a spot-up shooter, and he's no longer fast enough to be a compelling cutter. His value these days is as a decision maker with the ball and finesse scorer.

As for playoff scoring, I didn't mean to suggest Harden would be the guy- only that his kind of antics are being rewarded. Lebron is capable of- let's call it "enforcing the perception of a foul"- when he feels like it, as are several others. My suspicion that record will fall is more about someone getting hot from 3 for one night than it is about someone necessarily being as good of a pure scorer as Jordan or Baylor. Curry is the most likely candidate, followed, IMO, by Thompson or Durant. Westbrook, for my money, is not a dangerous enough 3pt shooter to get there by those means, though perhaps he could do it more traditionally with relentless penetration and lots of free throws.

 
At Wednesday, November 04, 2015 11:02:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just because Durant/Curry have never approached 40 shots, doesn't mean there weren't times they were needed to shoot that much or could've. It's hard to shoot that many times, and takes a lot of energy. Durant doesn't have an all-around offensive game like Kobe did, and he can't create his own shot like Kobe either. Hard to see him even being able to get enough shots to get 70-80, even with phenomenal efficiency. But yes, Durant/Curry's teams are probably too good for them to be in these situations very often, but I'm sure there's been occasions. Curry is a very good scorer, but he has never been a phenomenal scorer. I seriously doubt he will be able to maintain his current average throughout the current season. Durant is a great scorer, not as much as Kobe, but even still, hard to see him even come close to even 70, and that's if he was in a position to have to score a lot like 06-08 Kobe, which he isn't. Getting super hot even for the best scorers in the game today is scoring 35-40 points in a game. You have to almost literally be on fire to score 50, that's how amazing that is. Anything's possible, though.

To get to a 100, you'd have to go something like 33-50 while tying the nba record for 3's with 12, that brings you to 78 points. Then, go something like 22-25 at the line, for a 100.

Even with Robinson screwing around on last day of season in 94, he only had 41 FGA while going 18-25 at the line, scoring 71. The whole game was a joke, and he didn't come close to 100.

The most prolific scorers(Wilt, Kobe, Baylor, Jordan) in history all showed signs of being able to have huge scoring games, but only Wilt approached 100, and that was only once, and that game was kind of a farce at the end. There's some great scorers today, but I don't see anyone showing any signs of coming even with 35 points. Jordan is maybe the best scorer ever, and could focus on scoring primarily for almost his entire career, and he tried to score a ton. He only got past 64 once, topping out at 69. Kobe actually had 3 games where he could've gotten 80 points. Even though he scored 42 in one half, still unlikely he gets to 80. I'm guessing he would've at least gotten 75 in his 62 pt., 3-quarter game. That game was a blowout, though.

 

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