Watching LeBron James finish up his high school career on EPSN, no one imagined that he would eventually set his eyes on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the greatest NBA scorer; and, looking at the NBA lines, it is difficult to tell whether LeBron will achieve this feat.

James is hardly the first young player to transition from high school basketball to the NBA; many other youngsters came before him, and many more will come after.

You would think that players who enter the NBA at the age of 18 have more chances of making it big; however, most youngsters struggle to acclimate to the NBA system, so much so that they rarely achieve in the NBA what they achieved in high school.

LeBron James is one of those players that was a perfect fit for the NBA. His team might have lost during LeBron’s first NBA game back in 2003, but his 25 points, six rebounds and four steals immediately set him apart.

Over the years, LeBron has exceeded every possible expectation, so much so that pundits and fans have been forced to judge him by a separate scale from the rest of his peers.

Averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in his first year (only the third rookie in NBA history to accrue such stats), LeBron’s productivity was already something to behold at 18 years of age.

As the youngest player to eclipse 27,000 career points, LeBron hit the ground running in the NBA in a manner that most other youngsters failed to achieve. And the fact that he has remained so healthy for so long is notable.

So many other promising players have seen their careers cut short by injury. Kobe Bryant could have exceeded Kareem’s scoring record if he hadn’t suffered so many injuries in his final years.

Bryant was on the trail that LeBron is following now, only LeBron has somehow avoided undue injuries. After 12 (82-game) seasons in the NBA, LeBron has shown no signs of stopping.

He has already proven that he is more durable than most other players. Now, he needs to prove that he is as productive as someone like Kareem. It is difficult to believe that LeBron has actually joined the NBA’s highest scorers when you consider that scoring has never been his drive.

LeBron was always happiest passing the ball; he never had the killer instinct of players like Bryant, and as such, his attempts at assault Kareem’s scoring record have come as a surprise.

The previous season’s playoff run saw Shaquille O’Neal lose his position as the 4th leading scorer in the NBA postseason to James. James ran into Kareem in the locker rooms not long after that.

LeBron is already the tenth leading scorer in NBA history. He has the opportunity to keep climbing the ladder, especially if he remains healthy and keeps playing basketball for the foreseeable future.

It should be noted that LeBron doesn’t accumulate as many points as he used to, which is a sign of his aging body. At 32 years of age, it is possible that LeBron might have reached his peak, though no one is counting him out when it comes to surpassing Kareem.