Why LeBron James' Biggest Career Achievement Might Not Happen Against Oklahoma City Thunder

LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's vaunted scoring record has been the talk of the town as he is just 36 points away from doing so, but there is some belief that he will not break the record just yet against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, February 7.

As the NBA's official scoring record tracker notes, James is only 36 points away from surpassing Abdul-Jabbar and the likelihood of him doing so only increases since the Los Angeles Lakers are far from the playoff picture at 25-29.

That puts them two games behind the 10th-seeded Utah Jazz and three games behind the sixth-seeded Dallas Mavericks.

From this point on, every win matters for James and the Lakers with the clock ticking quickly on their playoff hopes.

February 7 will mark their first meeting this season and while the belief is that the Lakers will be able to pull out an easy win, the Thunder have proven themselves as capable giant-slayers despite their 25-28 record.

The Thunder have been on the winning side of things against the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets–much to the surprise of many fans.

Their 33-point win over the Celtics on January 3 might just be their most impressive performance this season as first-time All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not even play.

Boston, who was playing with a complete lineup, had no answers for the likes of Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Isaiah Joe–all of whom scored at least 20 points, with Giddey's 25 being a team-high.

In that same vein, the Thunder have been on the receiving end of double-digit losses against the Grizzlies, Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks even if Gilgeous-Alexander was on the floor.

This presents a unique problem for James and the Lakers since they cannot afford to underestimate a team that has taken down some of the NBA's best teams this season.

James is currently averaging 30 points and has had five 40-point games already this season and the Lakers went 3-2 in those games, which features an 18-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Based solely on his scoring stats this season, James is unlikely to break the record against the Thunder – especially if they fall victim to another collapse while Oklahoma City puts on another strong showing.

In the interest of WWE-like storytelling, James breaking the record against the Bucks instead would be poetic as Abdul-Jabbar led them to their first-ever NBA Championship in 1971 when he was still going by Lew Alcindor.

What makes things even more interesting for those who bought tickets to the Thunder game, which reportedly costs around $1,150, is that James is questionable for the game due to left ankle soreness.

James has been known to tough things out, but if he is determined to be unable to play, it throws a wrench into the plans of those who bought such high-priced tickets to witness history.

With so much riding into the Lakers' next two games and James dealing with soreness, there is a very real chance that he breaks the record against the Bucks instead.