Last night, LeBron James had the opportunity to put a spell on the NBA world. Taking on the LA Clippers at home, fans were on the edge of their seat as the clock ran out. They were waiting for the 40-year-old man to cross the magical number, 50,000 points milestone. With 7 minutes on the clock, Bron was just one point short of glory. Unfortunately, he left the fans on a cliffhanger. While everyone disappointedly accepted the fate, a new debate sparked, putting the NBA Commissioner on the spot.
Honestly, there’s no need for any fuss. The superstar can sink the golden bucket on Tuesday, facing the Pelicans. But what if I tell you that the 4x NBA Champ has already surpassed the 50,000 mark? Yes, you read that right. So, two years ago, on February 2023, the 6 ‘9 forward surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38, 387 points and became the scoring leader of the league. Some of you might wonder how he reached closer to the 50k mark so quickly.
Sorry to disappoint you if you had thought that way. LeBron James would reach 50k only after adding the total playoff points, which he surpassed Michael Jordan in 2017, with the regular season points. So, currently, he has 49,999 points. This was when the senior NBA analyst Dave McMenamin interjected and said that Bron had already surpassed 50k points and headed toward the 50,100 mark.
The ESPN reporter added the Play-in and In-season championship points. He didn’t stop there. McMenamin further went on to criticize the league for not recognizing these tournament points anywhere. This is where Adam Silver comes into the picture because the 62-year-old emerged as the culprit responsible for the introduction of these tournaments.
And approaching 50,100 when you count the play-in tournament and in-season championship points the NBA fails to recognize anywhere.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 3, 2025
Anyway, let’s focus on the problem at hand. In the case of an In-season tournament, except for the Finals, every other game is calculated as a regular season game. So, in 2023, the Lakers faced the Pacers in the Championship game and won the title where Bron had scored 24 points. If the league had considered the performance, the Akron Hammer would have surpassed the 50k mark on the Friday night challenge against the Clippers. Anyway, the criticism doesn’t end here. A Reddit user dug out a pattern in Adam Silver’s problem-solving skills.
NBA fans exposed Adam Silver’s problem-solving skills
What do you think is the league’s biggest problem? It’s not with the game. It’s a well-oiled machine that runs non-stop. The real problem is with the ratings. There’s always talk about how the league’s viewership has dropped in the last few years. Especially, the league faced a lot of backlash for the recently concluded All-Star Weekend. The majority of fans simply weren’t entertained.
However, Adam Silver doesn’t just watch all of this passively. He reacted and also brought in significant measures to combat the struggle. But if we look closer, there’s a pattern. For every single problem, Silver has launched a new tournament. In a subreddit called r/NBATalk, a new discussion came to the forefront a few days ago.
Here it goes, to discourage the teams from losing purposely at the end of the season, the league introduced the Play-in Tournament, giving the 9th and 10th seeds a chance at the ring. Secondly, a tournament at the start of the season to spice up the viewership. Lastly, a mini-tournament version of All-Star games to save the ratings. Whether it had worked or not, it has surely disappointed a few players.
Speaking of the In-Season tournament in 2021, LeBron James said, “Whoever came up with that sh*t needs to be fired.” His new teammate Luka Doncic, around the same time, addressed the unfairness in the tournament. So, what do you think? Should the players be considered before making choices in the league? Let us know in the comments.
The post Adam Silver’s Obsession With Controversial Format Stopped LeBron James From Securing 50K Milestone vs Clippers appeared first on EssentiallySports.
