LA Lakers’ Fantastic Four | Bandera

LA Lakers’ Fantastic Four

Henry Liao |March 11,2019
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LA Lakers’ Fantastic Four

Henry Liao - March 11, 2019 - 04:20 PM

IF it’s any consolation to the Lakers Nation, the top four all-time leading scorers in National Basketball Association (NBA) regular-season history have suited up the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers at one time their distinguished pro career.

The Fantastic Four are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and now LeBron James, who surpassed His Airness Michael Jordan (32,292 points) at the No. 4 spot after hitting a driving layup while being fouled during the second quarter of the Lakers’ 115-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets last March 6 at the Staples Center to secure his milestone points.

The 34-year-old James, who joined the Lakers last July on a four-year contract (including a player option in the final year), began the night needing 13 points to move past Jordan (32,292/1,072 games, all-time NBA-best 30.12 ppg) but finished with 31.

The do-it-all 6-foot-8 forward with three NBA championships in his illustrious 16-year tenure now trails only Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points/1,560 games, 24.6 ppg), Malone (36,928 points/1,476 games, 25.0 ppg) and Bryant (33,643 points/1,346 games, 25.0 ppg).

Going into the Lakers’ road game against the Chicago Bulls on March 13 (Manila time), James has amassed 32,241 points in 1,191 regular games for a 27.2-point clip.

Abdul-Jabbar, who started his brilliant career in the NBA in 1969-70 under his old Catholic name Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor Jr., is the all-time scoring leader in regular-season play. The 7-foot-2 product of the University of  California at Los Angeles (UCLA), who patented the “skyhook” in his offensive arsenal, first labored with the Milwaukee Bucks (1969-75) before latching on with the LA Lakers (1975-89) to get his 38,387 points.

Abdul-Jabbar, who converted to Islam in the summer of 1971 following an NBA title finish with the Bucks, made it to the top of the all-time scoring charts on April 5, 1984 by eclipsing Wilt Chamberlain’s 31,419 career points in 14 seasons and 1,045 games with the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and LA Lakers from 1959-73, including the last five with the Lakers.

Before a crowd of 18,389 fans at the Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, the home-away-from-home facility of the Utah Jazz during the 1983-84 season, Kareem needed 22 points to move ahead of Chamberlain’s league mark and he did turn in the trick (just 11 days before his 37th birthday) with his trademark “skyhook” shot (for his 21st and 22nd points) early in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 129-115 victory over 7-foot-4 mastodon Mark Eaton and the Jazz.

The 7-foot-1 Chamberlain, who until now owns nearly 70 NBA records, including 61 by himself, had held the NBA career scoring record for more than 18 years until fellow Lakers alum Abdul-Jabbar snatched it from him.

On February 14, 1966, Wilt, while carrying the colors of the 76ers in his seventh pro campaign, chalked up 41 points in a 149-123 victory over the Detroit Pistons to surpass Bob Pettit (20,880 points in 11 seasons and 792 games with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks from 1954 to 1965) as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. “The Big Dipper” finished the game with 20,884.

Chamberlain, who died of congestive heart failure on October 12, 1999 at his Bel Air home in Los Angeles, California at age 63, now ranks sixth on the league’s all-time scoring list with 31,419 points in 1,045 games for a 30.06-point clip (second highest average behind Jordan’s 30.12 ppg).

The Dallas Mavericks’ greatest player ever, Dirk Nowitzki, who this season supplanted Bryant for the NBA record for most consecutive seasons with just a single franchise at 21, trails Chamberlain by just 34 points at the No. 7 spot. The 7-foot German native has 31,385 career points heading into the Mavs’ home game against Texas rival San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, March 13 (Manila time).

Abdul-Jabbar, after winning an NBA championship with Milwaukee as a pro sophomore in 1971 in tandem with the “Big O” Oscar Robertson, snared five more title rings with the Lakers (1980-1982-1985-1987-1988).

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A four-time Manila visitor who earned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award for a record six times in 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1980, Abdul-Jabbar turns 72 on April 16.

More on Malone and Bryant, both of whom also suited up for the Lakers, next time.

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