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It happened. LeBron James has finally surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the new leader of the NBA’s career scoring record.
On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers star moved onto 38,388 points, ahead of everyone in the league’s history, much to the delight of the fans who had shelled out thousands of dollars to be in attendance.
But now that ‘The King’ holds that torch, which was held by another Laker for 38 years, where does he rank among some of America’s most successful athletes of the modern era?
A question impossible to answer, some might say.
But in a time when so many of the world’s best professional athletes are retiring after years of domination in their respective sports, intragenerational sports fans are now feeling nostalgic… trying to fill the void of what these greats have left us with.
Lakers star LeBron James this week became the all-time leading points scorer in NBA history
James celebrated the achievement with his sons Bronny (L) and Bryce (R) on Tuesday night
How does the face of the NBA measure up against seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady?
James is often in the same conversation as Michael Jordan for who’s the GOAT of basketball
So, is it Tom Brady, who retired for a second time (and for ‘good’) from the highest ceiling of professional football?
Or maybe, Michael Jordan? The man that James has been long compared to.
Both have had such unique careers… and have reached new heights of basketball in their own respective ways that it’s hard to compare two of the game’s greatest shot callers.
What about Tiger Woods? Like Serena Williams on a tennis court, he’s won all that needed to be won and has pushed his sport to new dimensions in ways that were unimaginable not too long ago.
Here, DailyMail.com takes a look at how he stacks up compared to some of the other modern greats of American sport…
Money
It’s fair to say that most great American athletes have benefitted from the process of enriching themselves during their careers and James, Jordan, Brady, Williams and Woods are no different.
Still playing at the age of 38 and in his 20th NBA season, James reached new heights of wealth that only Jordan has found in basketball. And ‘His Airness’ didn’t even reach nine figures until further down his post-retirement days.
James’ net worth is currently estimated to be $1.2billion, according to CNBC, while ‘Magic Mike’s’ is $1.7 billion, the most of anyone in American sports history.
Still playing at the age of 38, James’ net worth is currently estimated to be $1.2billion
Tiger Woods is another American great who’s won 15 major championships in a 26-year career
Compared to James’ four NBA rings, Serena Williams has won 39 major titles, 23 in singles
Tiger Woods doesn’t trail far behind ‘The King’ with $1.1billion in his bank account, all thanks to the insane prize money that golfers make in major tournaments.
Finally, and even perhaps surprisingly, Brady and Serena rank a lot further down the pecking order than the other three with $287.5million and $270million respectively. Not that they’ll be struggling any time soon.
It just goes to show how much of a great job the NBA has done at promoting the game overseas, with annual games in Paris, Mexico City, and even Tokyo these last few years.
Social Media Followers
James currently has 144million followers on Instagram, while he tweets to 52.7million people on Twitter, a pastime of his. The Lakers’ No. 6 also has 27million followers on Facebook.
The majority of basketball fans would think that James topping Jordan in terms of popularity is a no-brainer, given that the Bulls legend has no social media presence.
But, a study from 1996 found that, at the time, ‘MJ’s’ popularity was unmatched. He was commonly associated with Princess Diana and the Pope, who at the time was Pope John Paul II, as the top three most popular names worldwide.
James currently has 144million followers on Instagram, the most of the other four athletes
Jordan, Pope John Paul II and Princess Diana’s names were the most famous ones in the 1990s
Williams (center), pictured with the Kardashian sisters, has 16.1million followers on Instagram
Serena, who retired from the WTA after the 2022 U.S. Open, boasts 16.1million followers on Instagram, 10.6million on Twitter and seven-and-a-half million followers on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the NFL player with the most career quarterback wins (251) of all time, only has five million followers on Facebook, 13.4million on Instagram and three million on Twitter.
Woods is nowhere near the digital heights of James, boosting only a little more than six million followers on Twitter; three million on Instagram and Facebook, each.
In social media terms, there’s only one king – and his name is LeBron.
Sporting success
Lets start with our basketball pair. Both are divine figures of the NBA in their own right, though they do have lots in common.
Both are NBA champions. Jordan is a six-time Larry O’Brien trophy winner while James has only held the same prize in his hands four times.
Both have the same amount of championships as NBA Finals MVP too but James seems to thrive more during the regular season than his Bulls counterpart, taking part in the All-Star game 19 seasons in a row compared to Jordan’s 14 nominations.
‘Bron’ was also the NBA’s Assists leader in 2020, proving he might be the better passer, but Jordan was a 10-time league scoring champion and two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion.
So, does that mean he’s the best scorer? Better to not say that too loudly… especially after James just took over the rankings to become the player with the most career points in NBA history.
The buck doesn’t stop there, however.
Jordan, left, has won more in college than in James, right, who went into the NBA undrafted
Jordan was a two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion in 1987 and 1988 (pictured)
Woods won 82 PGA Tours, tying him first all time and Sam Snead. Pictured with his son, Charlie
Brady won six Super Bowl titles during his 19-year career with the New England Patriots
Brady won the Super Bowl seven different times but winning the game dubbed as America’s ‘most watched broadcast’ every single year isn’t exactly the same thing as winning the NBA Finals, where the winner is announced after a best-of-seven series.
Tiger Woods also needs to be included in this conversation, having won 15 major championships and 83 PGA Tour wins in 26 years. He also ranked first for 683 weeks straight.
That’s like having the best NBA record for at least two back-to-back seasons. Hello the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors…
Meanwhile, Serena’s $94,816,730 made during her 27-year career (from 1995 to 2022) makes her the queen of tennis, as she ranks first in all-time prize money earnings in the sport for women.
She also holds a 84.6 percent winning percentage (858-156), 73 career titles (fifth in overall rankings), including 23 major titles in singles. Compared to Woods’ major winning percentage, an astounding 33 percent, she’s on another level and has to go down as the most successful American sportsperson of all-time.
Off-the-field business ventures
James, along with those closest to him, including longtime marketing manager Maverick Carter, have done a great job at making ‘The King’ as wealthy as… well, a king.
In 2021, the 38-year-old invested less than a million in Blaze Pizza and by 2016, that investment grew to $25million, according to ESPN. Not bad for a man who once tried to trademark the term ‘Taco Tuesday’ to make a buck.
James is also an angel investor of tequila and mezcal company Lobos 1707 and he assisted WNBA star Renee Mongtomery in buying the Atlanta Dream after getting frustrated with ex-Senator Kelly Loeffler’s (R-Georgia) comments on the Black Lives movement in 2020.
Loeffler was the owner of the team, at that point in time.
In 2021, James joined Fenway Sports Group as a partner, making him a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Network, RFC Racing, and Liverpool FC.
James is a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Network, and Liverpool FC
Jordan is a majority shareholder in the Charlotte Hornets, holding 89.5 percent of club shares
He already owned a two percent individual share in the Reds at that time and is also a part owner of A.C. Milan with Drake.
James has also expressed interest in owning an NBA team once his playing days are over, noticeably in Las Vegas, through expansion or relocation.
But, ‘The King’ isn’t as business-savvy as ‘His Airness’, whose Jordan Brand generates $1billion in sales annually for Nike.
Forbes once listed Jordan as the 20th-most powerful celebrity in the world with $55million earned between 2009 and 2010, all thanks to his business ventures.
The 59-year-old also became the first NBA player to turn into a billionaire (in June 2014) after increasing his ownership stake in the Charlotte Hornets from 80 to 89.5 percent. Jordan is also a part owner of the Miami Marlins in the MLB.
His 2015 income was around $110million, according to USA Today, which is the most of any retired athlete. He was also designated as the athlete with the highest career earnings in 2017 and is currently the sixth richest African-American in the US.
Jordan is also an investor and advisor for sports gambling company DraftKings.
Woods once planned to design golf courses around the world and has business ties to Trump
Meanwhile, Serena prefers to be less obvious than James and the Bulls legend when it comes to revealing herself as the mastermind behind her investments.
The 41-year-old’s big on fashion and has owned several clothing lines since 2004, including her own design apparel ‘Aneres’ – her first name spelled backwards – and a signature collection of handbags and jewelry.
The collection, Signature Statement, is mainly sold on the Home Shopping Network (HSN). In Fall 2019, Williams launched the first collection of her sustainable clothing line, S by Serena.
The tennis legend, hailing from Palm Beach Springs, Florida, is also a member of Poshmark’s board of directors – an online fashion marketplace.
In 2014, she founded equity company ‘Serena Ventures’ to help start-up companies whose perspectives and innovations level the playing field for women and people of color. Serena is also a minority shareholder of the Miami Dolphins since 2009.
In 2020, she took part of a nearly all-women investors’ group that was awarded a new franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League, better known now as Angel City FC.
For Tiger Woods, however, business hasn’t always paid off as nearly as well as some investments founded by his peers.
In 2006, the 47-year-old shared his intention to begin design golf courses around the world through his new company, Tiger Woods Design, but it proved to be a major flop.
Brady has his own peak performance website called TB12Sports.com (pictured in 2019)
The 45-year-old quarterback’s website sells a wide range of products that are protein-based
Woods’ plans to build a 25.3million-square-foot golf course in Dubai were shelved permanently after a partnership between his company and Dubai Holding dissolved.
Woods took on two other courses after that, neither of which has seen the light of day. In 2007, the golfer started to design a course in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, but the project suffered cash flow problems.
Therefore, construction was suspended. In 2008, a golf course in Punta Brava, Mexico, started being built but it incurred delays due to issues with permits and an environmental impact study.
Woods also launched his first NFT on the DraftKings Marketplace in collaboration with Autograph.io, an NFT platform co-founded by Brady that helped launch NFT projects with Usain Bolt, Rafael Nadal, Wayne Gretzky and Tony Hawk.
Speaking of which, Brady owns other business ventures outside of cryptocurrency, including his own line of vegan snacks and a peak performance website.
TB12Sports.com has a wide range of products for sale, including gym equipment, sleeping aids and performance meals enhanced with protein.
The Patriots legend also owns his own production company, 199 Productions, since 2020, and just a year later, he became a paid spokesperson for FTX – though it’s safe to say that that investment didn’t turn out well.
Controversies
James has done a good job at prevailing through the challenges of becoming a world-famous basketball player, and has taken stances on controversial issues throughout his career.
He’s also mentioned a feeling of obligation to effect change using his status on several occasions. We won’t go through all of them but here are a few from recent memory…
During Donald Trump’s presidency, James criticized the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement, saying the country’s youth’ deserves better’ after a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, organized by several white supremacist groups.
‘It’s sad what’s going on in Charlottesville,’ he said. ‘Is this the direction our country is heading? Make America Great Again huh? Our youth deserve better!!’
James has also called Trump a ‘bum’ and accused the former President of dividing the country with sports, and once suggested that ‘sports has never been something that divides people its always been something that brings others together’.
James supports kneeling in protest during the national anthem, started by Colin Kapernick
James has said that he feels an obligation to effect change using his status several times
Meanwhile, James’ idol, Michael Jordan, is the opposite. Famously apolitical during his career, the Hornets owner and Bulls legend has avoided public statements on politics and civil rights, when other athletes have spoken out.
Jordan has also suffered enormous gambling losses throughout his career and has clarified on several occasions that he doesn’t suffer from an addiction.
Many NBA fans thought his retirement in 1993 was caused by a ‘secret suspension’ handed out by the league’s then-commissioner David Stern.
Meanwhile, Brady’s name has also been in the limelight for the wrong reasons at times, noticeably for his involvement in the Deflategate scandal.
The 45-year-old allegedly ordered the deliberate deflation of footballs that were used in the Patriots’ win against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2014 AFC title game in January 2015. Brady ended up being suspended for four games over the controversy.
The Patriots legend is also tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX bankruptcy, which wiped out the now-retired football player’s stake in the company and is being sued with other celebrities.
Brady is currently being sued by those who’ve invested in FTX, which went bankrupt in 2022
Williams has faced backlash several times throughout her career for arguing with umpires
Accused of match-fixing at the Indian Wells in 2001 after her sister, Venus, pulled out of a semifinal match against her just four minutes before the contest was scheduled to start, Serena boycotted the tournament before coming back to play in 2015.
She’s also been seen arguing with umpires over calls throughout her career.
In 2018, after losing the US Open final to Naomi Osaka, the Herald Sun published a controversial newspaper cartoon, depicting Serena breaking her racket while the umpire asks her opponent to ‘just let her win’.
The cartoon was widely criticized as racist and sexist, as complaints centered around the portrayal of Williams as an angry black woman with exaggerated large lips, a flat nose and positioned in an ape-like pose.
Woods was embroiled in controversy after his extramarital affairs were revealed in 2009
The golfer has also been arrested for a DUI in 2017 and suffered a severe car crash in 2021
Tiger Woods has also gone through highs and lows in his career and his infidelity scandal in 2009 saw several of his sponsorship deals end, including ones with AT&T, Gatorade and General Motors.
He was also arrested in 2017 near his home in Jupiter Island, Florida, for driving under the influence of drugs and was given probation and was handed a fine.
In February 2021, the golfer was the victim of a serious rollover crash in Los Angeles County, driving over 80 mph, nearly twice the speed limit, before his car flipped.
No other people were involved in the wreck and Woods sustained multiple leg injuries and had surgery, though none of them were life-threatening.
So is LeBron the GOAT?
It’s hard to come up with an answer when the debate over whether he’s even the greatest at his own sport still rages on. James has undoubtedly won all that there is to win, and in terms of points, he’s out front on his own.
His name, along with Jordan’s, are the biggest in basketball. Apologies to Kareem, Magic, Larry, KD and Steph.
But to pick between them is difficult, given they are both equally historic and important to their sport in their own ways.
To crown James the president of basketball would mean handing Jordan the vice presidency, an insult to the legacy of the Bulls legend on and off the court. But the same can be said if you switch the titles around.
There’s no doubt that James is basketball royalty, but does he fare better than Jordan?
‘The King’, pictuerd on the right, will go down as one of America’s best ever athletes for a while
And if James isn’t the GOAT of basketball then how could he possibly be the GOAT of American sport?
When it comes to the most titles, Serena is top of the tree. When it comes to wealth, Jordan rules the roost. Tiger Woods is perhaps the most famous around the world, while Tom Brady will also have his backers after hanging up his cleats last week.
In truth, America has several GOATS and one of them doesn’t have sharper or longer horns than the other.
Now is the time to appreciate their greatness, while they’re all still around.
Honorable mentions
Babe Ruth was basically one of America’s first celebrities, along with Jesse Owens.
Then, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came along, expanding the horizons of American sports in different ways.
But none of these four names had many high-profile U.S. athletes to look up to, if at all, with each of their respective sport still being in their infancy.
Ruth is widely seen as the best player in the history of baseball and no legends of America’s favorite pastime who played before him are ever mentioned besides Ty Cobb.
Babe Ruth is considered as the best baseball player ever. Seen with president Warren Harding
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was seen as the greatest NBA player ever…until Jordan came along
Muhammad Ali is undoubtedly the greatest boxer of all-time and was at one point, the world’s most famous person. But other than Sugar Ray Robinson, who he once considered as the best, who else was better than Ali before the legend came along?
And the same thing has to be said about Jabbar, who switched his name from Lewis Alcindor a long time ago. He may have the same number of rings as Jordan but he didn’t have anyone breaking records in the NBA before him.
Only Bill Russell comes to mind when one compares Abdul-Jabbar but both played in the same era.
So, to compare players who set the tone in their respective sport with those who matched it and set new heights is inconceivably incomparable.
