LeBron James has scored 35,367 points in his NBA career. If he stays healthy and continues to score at his typical 27 point-per-game pace, James could become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record of 38,387 points — a record once thought unbreakable.
Records like these are imprinted into the brains of every sports fan, whether it’s Wayne Gretzky’s 92-goal season, Barry Bonds’ 762 career home runs, or Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game. Many of these accomplishments have stood the test of time, lasting over a century. At this point, it seems like they may never be broken.
To determine sports records that may never be broken, 24/7 Wall St. used data from the Sports Reference family of sites to review single-game, single-season, and career records from NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL players.
These records are more likely to remain unbroken because of the way sports have evolved in recent decades. The career complete games record in baseball was set in an era before relief pitchers were regularly used, and the NBA’s top all-time scoring performance from one player pre-dates the three point line.
Many of the records on this list have remained for so long, the games from those eras would look almost unrecognizable to those of the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL of today. In fact, several of the records were set by players on teams like the Cleveland Spiders, Quebec Bulldogs, and other franchises that are now defunct. These are the greatest sports teams that disappeared.
Click here to see sports records that may never be broken.
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