LeBron James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer two seasons ago when he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 2023 during a game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Since then, he has surpassed 40,000 points, and he currently has 42,184 points for his career during the regular season, as well as 50,473 points in the regular season and playoffs combined.
Still, some don't consider him an elite scorer. He isn't quite as skilled as some of the other leading scorers in NBA history, such as Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and it has even led some to downplay his accomplishment as the all-time leading scorer.
According to critics, James doesn't have "a bag," meaning that he doesn't quite have the skill-based moves that other superstars possess. He has indeed always relied heavily on his athleticism and physicality, although he has greatly improved his 3-point shooting over the last two seasons.
During a recent episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast, which he co-hosts with Hall of Famer Steve Nash, James reacted to those critics and tried to downplay the importance of having a highly refined skill set (h/t Lakers Nation).
“When I was growing up, it wasn’t talked about. The least amount of dribbles to get to where you need to get to was what I grew up watching. Michael Jordan wasn’t dribbling 1,000 times to get to his spot and raise. Isiah Thomas, as great of a handle as Isiah Thomas had, Isiah would get to his spot and raise. All these guys that I grew up watching, Grant Hill can get to his spot and bury you. [Glenn] Robinson, I get to my spot and I’m burying you. Allan Houston, all these great players that I grew up watching and admiring, Penny Hardaway. They could dribble the basketball, yes. Tracy McGrady, even as great as Tracy was, it was I’m bigger than you, I’m gonna get to the spot in the least amount of dribbles. Kevin Garnett, just good footwork and getting over the top, if I’m bigger than you and I get you on my shoulder or get you on my hip, I’m gonna use my size. I see it all the time, I be on social media and it’s like ‘LeBron has no bag.’ LeBron has no bag and I’m sitting over there with 50 billion points… Just play the game the right way. And I hope that our younger generation doesn’t get swamped by saying OK, I need a bag, I need a bag. Work on your game, know what you’re gonna be good at in order to help the team and prove the next year to be a better player. You come in as a guy that’s offensive game is not developed, you come in and you defend, you get extra possessions, you get extra rebounders for the guys. OK, then next year you work on your game in the offseason. It’s only one or two, three guys maximum that’s gonna be handling the [expletive] hold anyways. We don’t need you to have a bag. We have the luxury of having three guys with us two and AR, but not many teams have three guys that’s gonna be handling the ball like that anyways. You can make $200 million in the NBA if you defend and shoot a corner 3-pointer.”
Even at age 40, and even without the same level of scoring skills as some others, James has continued to excel. He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds a game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range.
With Luka Doncic now by his side, one can easily see the game becoming a little easier for him now that he has been playing off the ball more often since Doncic's arrival. Many have wanted James to play off the ball for years in order to lessen his workload and increase his efficiency.
No matter how skilled or unskilled one thinks James is, many feel his career scoring mark will never be surpassed.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on critics saying he doesn't have scoring skills
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