Resumption week in the NBA, since the 2023/24 season will open its doors this Tuesday for a duration of eight months! The opportunity to look, on the eve of this opening evening, on the different statistical issues of this new exercise, with NBA records to beat, and milestones to reach and cross.
Like every year, several players will have the opportunity to break records and/or progress in the statistical hierarchy of the league, at the end of a 2022/23 campaign which will have notably seen LeBron James make history in scoring.
Points, rebounds, triple-doubles or even 3-point baskets: zoom in on these famous “milestones” ready to fall in the NBA in the coming weeks!
POINTS
Already becoming the most prolific scorer in history this year, LeBron James can become the first player to reach the 40,000 career points mark. Currently stuck at 38,652 points, he only needs 1,348 to join the “40K club”. With an average of 25 points per game, a threshold below which he has never fallen until now, he will need around fifty games to get there.
Currently 13th in the ranking of the best scorers in history with 26,892 points, Kevin Durant has the possibility of entering the Top 10. To overtake Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes and Moses Malone, he will need to score 518 points. A formality, since based on his career average of 27 points per game, he will only need around twenty games to achieve this objective.
His personal situation remains unclear, but imagining that it will quickly become clearer, James Harden will have the opportunity to enter the Top 20 best scorers in history, in addition to reaching the 25,000 career points mark. To do this, the leader of the Sixers (24,693) will first have to score 307 points to join the “25K club”, then he will have to score 729 more to successively surpass Patrick Ewing, Jerry West, Reggie Miller, Alex English and Vince Carter. Taking his points average over the last three seasons (22) as a reference, the 2018 MVP should have completed everything in around fifty games.
Like James Harden, Russell Westbrook can reach the 25,000 career points mark. Currently, he has a total of 24,457 and, to obtain the missing 543 units, he will have to average at least 15 points over around forty matches. Largely within the ropes of the Clippers leader, who has never scored less than 1,000 points in an entire season since his debut in the NBA.
Another playmaker able to join a prestigious club: Damian Lillard. By scoring 624 points, the new Bucks player (19,376) will reach the 20,000 point mark in the regular season. Based on his career average of 25 points per game, this will be completed after around twenty games.
Further behind, ten players are on the verge of reaching the symbolic milestone of 10,000 career points: Reggie Jackson (9,876), Jayson Tatum (9,865), Marcus Morris (9,649), Dennis Schröder (9,636), Tim Hardaway Jr. (9,168), Luka Doncic (9,100), Trae Young (8,990), Buddy Hield (8,807), D’Angelo Russell (8,767) and Jaylen Brown (8,428). Barring an injury, everyone should have no trouble joining the 390 players who already make up this “10K club”.
REBOUNDS
Quadruple best rebounder in the league, Andrew Drummond has the opportunity to reach the threshold of 10,000 career rebounds. As it currently has 9,963, it is only missing 37 and this will therefore be done very early in the season.
Already leader of the Bucks in points, assists, blocks and even matches played, Giannis Antetokounmpo can now become the best rebounder in the history of his franchise. If he captures 271 this season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will find himself in his rearview mirror and, as the “Greek Freak” averages almost 12 rebounds for six years, the affair will be completed in around twenty games.
ASSISTS
NBA leader in total assists for the last two seasons, Trae Young has a good chance of becoming the best passer in Hawks history. To do this and surpass Doc Rivers (3,866), he will need to distribute 582. Anything but improbable, as he has totaled more than 700 assists in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
AGAINST
Best NBA blocker in 2017, Rudy Gobert can become the 38th player in history to reach the 1,500 career blocks mark. For now, he has a total of 1,452 and he therefore only needs 48 additional blocks to join this closed circle.
As for Myles Turner, named best blocker in the league twice in the past, 122 blocks will be enough to make him the best blocker in Pacers history ahead of Jermaine O’Neal (1,245). As he has reached this total four times in the last five seasons, we can safely assume that it is within his ropes.
MATCHES
While LeBron James (1,421) will try to get as close as possible to the Top 5, six players can join the club of 1,000 career games played this season: Nicolas Batum (993), Kevin Durant (986), Robin Lopez (976), Wes Matthews (950), Brook Lopez (946) and Taj Gibson (945).
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
If he makes 31 this season, Nikola Vucevic will reach the milestone of 500 career double-doubles. Among active players, only LeBron James, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook have already achieved such a feat while, in history, there are only 31 to make up this “club of 500”.
TRIPLE-DOUBLES
Record holder for the number of triple-doubles in his career (198), Russell Westbrook can become the first player to total 200. The last time he didn’t record at least 2 triple-doubles in an entire season was in 2013/14. The fact remains that since his arrival at the Clippers, the 2017 MVP has not achieved the slightest “10-10-10”…
BASKETS
Not content with becoming the best rebounder in Milwaukee history, Giannis Antetokounmpo can also establish himself as the player who totals the most baskets with the Bucks. As it stands, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,902) remains the sole leader but, from the first match of the season, the “Greek Freak” can score the 8 shots he lacks to dislodge “KAJ” from the highest step of the podium.
3 POINTS
With currently 2,387 3-point baskets, Damian Lillard is well on his way to entering the Top 5 of the best 3-point shooters in history, because Kyle Korver only has 63 more award-winning successes than the new Bucks leader. In his career, he makes 3 3-point baskets per match and it will take him around twenty games to climb to this famous 5th place.
Despite his two serious injuries, Klay Thompson is on track to enter the Top 10 of the best 3-point shooters in history. As Jamal Crawford only has 8 more award winning successes than the “Splash Brother” (2,213), this matter will be resolved very quickly.
Four players can reach the threshold of 2,000 career 3-point baskets. This is’Eric Gordon (1878), Kevin Durant (1863), Wes Matthews (1,821) and Buddy Hield (1,705). Enough to support the 14 players who are already in this closed circle.
Concerning Zach LaVine, he is on the verge of becoming the best 3-point shooter in Bulls history, given that Kirk Hinrich has only 114 more 3-pointers than LaVine (935). The latter should therefore only need around fifty games to surpass “Captain Kirk”, given his career average of 2 3-point baskets per game.
FREE THROWS
Author of 8,087 free throws throughout his 20 NBA seasons, LeBron James is only 292 units away from overtaking Kobe Bryant to join the Top 3 best free throw shooters in history. The fact remains that the “King” has not reached such a total since 2017/18 and that his progression in the ranking will mainly depend on his state of health…
For his part, Kevin Durant has the possibility of joining the Top 10 best free throw shooters in history. To date, he has 6,631 and is only 288 free throws away from successively passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dolph Schayes, Adrian Dantley and Paul Pierce. Potentially completed after around forty matches, if we take as a reference his career average of 7 free throws per match.
