Who Will Wear the Crown?
With so many amazing legends of the game retiring soon, the NBA will soon find itself in a weird transition period. With stars like Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Luka Doncic taking over the league in the past few years, it’s hard not to think about comparisons to the future hall of famers that they are currently competing with.
For the better part of the past few decades, the best players in the league have been LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. LeBron James has always been scrutinized for his championship record and has been compared to Michael Jordan since before he came into the league. Debates on whether he is the G.O.A.T still rage daily on sports shows and throughout the NBA fanbase. Durant has been very divisive for his leadership abilities and his decision to take the “easy road” to two championships. Curry is now being included in the G.O.A.T conversation by many and is being compared to Magic Johnson more and more as time goes on.
While all three NBA superstars have had very different careers, they have one main thing in common: they’re All-Time generational talents who are future hall of famers. But one question remains while retirement talks get more and more frequent. Who will ever do what these three did?
LeBron has the Michael Jordan comparison, Kevin Durant has the Dirk Nowitzki comparison, and Steph Curry has the greatest shooter of all time title and a Magic Johnson comparison. But which current superstars will be compared to them, and will those players have the same impact on the league like they did?
There are six current players in the top 25 in all-time scoring.
- LeBron James – 42,184 Points in 22 Seasons (1st all-time)
- James Harden – 27,687 Points in 15 Seasons (11th all-time)
- Kevin Durant – 30,571 Points in 17 Seasons (8th all-time)
- Russell Westbrook – 26,205 Points in 16 Seasons (20th all-time)
- Stephen Curry – 25,386 Points in 15 Seasons (24th all-time)
- DeMar DeRozan – 25,292 Points in 15 Seasons (25th all-time)
There are only seven total current players in the league that are in the top 50 all-time in scoring, which means that it will be a few years before we see new names on the all-time list.
Who’s The Closest to Cracking NBA Top 50?
With the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season, the final regular season stats are in so we can get a better look at potential legends in the making. At the moment, only a few players are showing the potential to end up in the upper echelons of basketball’s top scorers of all time.
Anthony Edwards – 9,097 Points in 5 Seasons
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – 11,294 Points in 7 Seasons
Luka Doncic – 12,878 Points in 8 Seasons
Nikola Jokic – 16,210 Points in 10 Seasons
Giannis Antetokounmpo – 20,538 Points in 11 Seasons
At their current rate, all of those players would have to play 10 or more years and average their career highs to catch LeBron James. Giannis for example needs another 10 seasons averaging about 30 points per game to become the all-time leading scorer.
While not every player on that list has dreams of becoming the all-time NBA scoring champ, they have a very good chance at having historic careers if they keep the pace that they’re on. Anthony Edwards would need to score about 1,800 points a season for the next 12 years to surpass his idol Kevin Durant on the all-time scoring list. Giannis could pass KD in the next 5 years if he continues the pace he’s had for the last few seasons.
While the league seems to be in good hands for the foreseeable future, the fear of letting go is starting to sink in for many NBA fans. While we’ve witnessed historic and record setting careers for the last two decades, the new generation of players will take over and establish themselves as the next history makers. Only time will tell if they raise the bar like the players they grew up idolizing.
For more NBA content, head to HardwoodHeroics.com
For Jesse’s page, click here.
Follow Jesse on X: @JaxKellington23
Follow HardwoodHeroics on Newsbreak.com
Similar Stories:
Amazing NBA Legends That May Retire Soon After 2026
2026: LeBron’s Final Year Of Amazing Career?
