Giannis Antetokounmpo became the sixth-youngest NBA player to hit the milestone of scoring 21,000 points in his career on Saturday night vs. the Nets just six days before his 31st birthday.
While he briefly celebrated this incredible achievement, the Bucks star has his eyes on a bigger prize: the all-time NBA scoring record.
Antetokounmpo’s got a long way to go to break LeBron James’s record of 42,250 points as this number is still growing since James is still playing. James’s total is more than double of what Antetokounmpo has in his 13th season—the Lakers star is in his 23rd season. When considering this math, Antetokounmpo likely won’t break James’s record. But, that doesn’t stop his confidence.
Not only does Antetokounmpo believe he will become the all-time scoring leader, he thinks he could do it in just four or five years.
“I think getting to the top of the scoring list is not six, seven or eight years away. I think it's, in my opinion, I think it's four years away—four or five years away, four and a half years away. I think when I’m going to be 35 years old and sitting in this chair, want to have a discussion of I am in the top list of all-time in scoring. And, I would have talked that into existence and not just talk that into existence because I believe that I'm going to do it, it's something that I want to do.”
Giannis reflects on scoring 21,000 career points and being the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to do so. pic.twitter.com/prRIjGazTp
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 30, 2025
Antetokounmpo would need to at least average 30 points per game in 700 games in order to score 21,000 more points, which still wouldn’t be enough to surpass James. This would mean the Milwaukee star would need to play in all 82 games for the next 8.5 seasons—so his goal of reaching this feat in four or five years seems nearly impossible.
The two-time MVP is currently averaging 30.9 points through 15 games this season. His 21,002 all-time points puts him in the 42nd position in the all-time scoring rankings. The next player Antetokounmpo can pass is Hal Greer with his 21,586 points.
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