There are some records in NBA history that look downright unbreakable. LeBron James' streak of games scoring 10-plus points is now one of them. His almost two-decade-long streak came to an end on Thursday in Toronto as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Raptors.
James entered the game having scored 10-plus points in 1,297 consecutive games, which amounts to roughly 18 seasons, but had to make a difficult decision in clutch time versus the Raptors. With the clock winding down and LeBron stuck at eight points, he decided to hit Rui Hachimura in the corner for the game-winning three instead of forcing a look that could have either kept his streak alive or sent the game to overtime. Instead, he chose to make the right play and put his team first. A selfless ending to one of the craziest streaks the league has ever seen.
Moments like this are great opportunities to remind the NBA community of the absurdity of another all-time player: Michael Jordan. Jordan shattered numerous records during his tenure with the Chicago Bulls, and many remain untouched to this day—and might stay that way forever. I picked three of the most head-scratching feats Jordan notched in his 13 seasons with the Bulls.
Michael Jordan's 29,277 points as a Bull
While this is not an all-time NBA record, as Jordan ranks fourth only behind legends Karl Malone (Utah Jazz), Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks), it feels like it won't be broken by a Bulls player anytime soon.
Just to put it into perspective—let's say a player suits up as a Bull for 15 years and takes the court roughly 75 games per season, he would need to average about 26 points a night to equal MJ's record. That's unimaginable. Given the Bulls' current roster, it's hard to identify a player who could eventually pull that off.
More broadly, loyalty in today's NBA has become scarce, as players are traded almost without a second thought (hello, Dallas). Besides, with load management becoming more common, players don't reach 75-80 games as consistently as they did in the past. For instance, Jordan played an average of 76 games a season; if the 1985–86 season isn't taken into consideration, when he was injured early on. So it's pretty safe to say that this record will stay in the books for quite a while.
Averaging 37.1 PPG in a season (1986-87)
Yes, you read that right, 37.1 points per game over a full season. Insanity. So Jordan basically missed the entirety of the 1985–86 season and came back on a mission. He played all 82 games, had thirty-seven games of 40-plus points, eight 50-pieces and two ridiculous 60-point eruptions.
Just to underline how dominant Jordan was scoring-wise in the modern era (from around 1975-76), MJ appears six times in the top 10 list for most total points in an NBA season. The closest a player has come to matching that 86–87 season (except himself in 87–88 when he tallied 2,868 points) is his protégé, Kobe Bryant, with 2,832 on 35.4 points per game in 2005-06.
Safe to say that milestone won't be touched by a Bull in the near future—scratch that, by an NBA player whatsoever. Averaging 37 points a game for an entire season is nuts, and even the craftiest, most effective bucket-getters we've had in the last 10 to 15 years haven't sniffed that level of scoring, with the notable exception of James Harden in 2018-19 and his step-back-three revolution
Bulls going 626 games without losing three in a row
So far, I've been praising and acknowledging Jordan individually, but let's not forget that Basketball is a team sport. That's what made MJ so special: more often than not, he found a way to will his team to victory.
From November 7, 1990, to his last shot in 1998, Jordan never allowed his team to lose more than two games in a row—regular-season and playoffs included—when he was in the lineup, per Harvard Sports Analysis. It underscores the competitiveness Jordan played with night in and night out, and the stability of the Bulls' franchise during this span.