Lakers News: Former Shaqobe-Era Laker Offers Piping Hot Take On LeBron James

Longtime reserve big man John Salley, who won and lost a title against the Showtime-era Lakers as a member of the Detroit Pistons and then won again as a member of the 2000 Shaqobe-era Lakers, offered up a piping hot take on current Laker forward LeBron James.

Now in his 20th NBA season, the 18-time All-Star is making what has seemed like a pretty darn inevitable march to overtake former Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leader in regular season points scored. Keep in mind, James already holds the record for actual all-time NBA points scored, in that he has scored more points in the regular season and postseason combined than his nearest competitor, who, as you probably guessed is Abdul-Jabbar.

Including his output across his nine healthy games this year, James has now scored 37,281 total regular season points, as of this writing. The Chosen One now stands just 1,107 points shy of breaking Abdul-Jabbar's regular season mark, 38,387.

LBJ is averaging 24.3 points a night on 44.7% shooting. He missed an average of 21 games a season during his first four years as a Laker because, well, he's old. Assuming that trend continues and his scoring average stays where it is, James would score (rounding up) 1,264 points by the end of the 2022-23 regular season. Again, that is factoring in a projected 21 games lost due to injury.

In a new interview with Shannon Sharpe on his YouTube series Club Shay Shay, Salley zigged where others have zagged, somehow determining that The Chosen One would not catch Cap -- not just this season, but ever. As Sharpe notes, Abdul-Jabbar has held the record since 1984, when he broke the previous all-time regular season points record held by, you guessed it, another Laker, Wilt Chamberlain (31,419, still good for 7th-best ever).

"I think they're not gonna let him get it... You're going to be really mad," Salley said. "Think about it... Phil Jackson said something to me, I was in my 50s, and then I got it—I said, 'Phil, Kobe had 81, he was about to get 104'... He goes, 'Well, some records need to stand."

This is just a bonkers, practically conspiratorial, proclamation.

Who is the "they" to which Salley is referring? The NBA? And how exactly are they going to stop James from scoring an additional 1,106 points over the course of his remaining career? James is still playing at an All-Star level right now, and though he has shown signs of slowing down, the finish line doesn't seem to be in sight.

While it is true that James does appear to have taken a step back this season, it's not that bad a regression. Yes, his scoring efficiency has nosedived, though that could be due in part to the impact of a sore left foot that has apparently been pestering him all year thus far. He's also signed with L.A. through at least 2024, with a player option in 2024-25. So he'll have, at the absolute least, two additional seasons beyond this one to exceed Abdul-Jabbar's sum, should he be waylaid by a more long-term injury this year and not be able to play in enough games to get there.

Short of an actual stoppage in NBA play, James is claiming that record. And don't forget, despite all the pomp and circumstance surrounding that (admittedly insane) number, James actually did already break the more important scoring record.