Will Mavericks star Luka Doncic join LeBron James next on exclusive list?

LeBron James recently made history by being the first to amass 40,000 career points in the NBA. A question now is whether we will see another player achieve the feat in this lifetime.

Some folks believe Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, whom James once called his favorite player, is "The King's" heir apparent who will follow in his footsteps.

The Los Angeles Lakers icon eclipsing 40K is by no means an easy feat. Aside from his scoring prowess, as evidenced by his career average of 27.1 points per game, James' durability and longevity have also played a significant role in his possibly untouchable record. Before his Lakers stint that began when he was turning 34, he had suited up for around 76 games per season.

Will Mavericks star Luka Doncic join LeBron James next on exclusive list?

In the scoring department, Luka Doncic may already have the edge over his idol. Through his first six campaigns suiting up for the Dallas Mavericks, he has averaged 28.5 points per contest. At the moment, he is on pace to post a career-high for a season, leading the league with 34.5 points per match.

Considering that in today's NBA, offense is given more importance than defense, and there is more emphasis on the 3-point shot, it wouldn't be surprising to see Doncic maintain a scoring average over 30 in the remainder of his prime.

It's also worth noting that this campaign's likely scoring champion has already eclipsed 10,000 points for his career. Even though James holds the record for being the youngest player to reach that mark, Doncic did it in his 358th contest, 10 fewer than the four-time MVP.

There are some obstacles, though, to the 25-year-old's pursuit of joining the 40K club. 

For one, he has had a lengthy injury history so far. He hasn't appeared in at least 72 matches in a season since his rookie year. In addition, he doesn't seem interested in chasing any of LeBron's records, stating that he is not looking to play as long as James has done, although he seems to be joking.

But just how long would it plausibly take for the five-time All-Star to score over 29,000 more to make it to 40,000? 

Let's say he puts up 30.0 points per game for the rest of his career; he would need around 967 more appearances to attain that goal. That means playing 12 to 14 more seasons with barely spending time on the injury list. But with the number of matches he has already missed, Doncic might have to stay in the NBA for a couple more years. 

So, while the four-time All-NBA First-Team selection replicating the latest feat by James is certainly not outside the realm of possibility, he is probably not sweating it. After all, his picture of a perfect career involves a championship.

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