3 Major Sports Records That Won’t Last Much Longer

Some sports records are made to be broken, but there was a point where all three of these records seemed to be so far out of reach that they were nearly impossible to break. Only the best players of a generation can change their sport and break some of the biggest and most important records in a sport and these are three such athletes.

Steph Curry – Most 3-Pointers Made in NBA History

Ever since being drafted 7th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft, Curry has made every single team that elected to pick someone else look silly. Curry is a 2-time NBA MVP, 7-time All Star, and 3-time NBA Champion who has made his living from behind the three-point line. Curry has led the NBA in 3-pointers made in 6 of the last 9 season and is the only player IN NBA HISTORY to make 400 threes in a single season. Steph is an NBA superstar who has been an integral part of the shift toward 3-point shooting across the NBA.

At just 33 years old, Curry is only 56 made threes away from the record for most career 3-pointers, currently held by legendary sharpshooter Ray Allen. Allen’s record stands at 2,973 made threes, and Curry is quickly catching up, coming in at 2,917 at the time of writing. Curry has had a red-hot start to this season, making 5.7 3-pointers per game at an incredible efficiency of 41.9%. It is only a matter of weeks before Curry will be the undisputed greatest 3-point shooter of all time, though many (myself included) already believe that to be true.

At his current rate, Steph Curry will be the record holder in only 10 more games, meaning the record will change hands in just about 3 weeks or so. My prediction is that he breaks the record on December 13th against the Indiana Pacers, in front of the crowd who cheered for one of the other greatest shooters of all time, Reggie Miller (3rd all-time for made 3-pointers).

How much further can Curry push the record? If he can continue his incredible pace for the rest of this season and maintain a relatively high number of threes made for an entirely realistic 6 or 7 more years to finish his career, I believe that Curry could set one of the most unbreakable NBA records with roughly 4,500 3-pointers made.

Lebron James – Most Career Points in NBA History

Lebron James is already one of the greatest and most decorated NBA players of all-time, but his case for the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) may become even stronger in the coming years, as he narrows in on what would be the most incredible feat of his long career. Setting the record for most points in an NBA career.

The record currently stands at 38,387 points, earned by center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who retired following the 1988-89 season with the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 41. As of today, Lebron has scored an incredible 35,539 points, good enough for 3rd all-time, above NBA legends like Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

In his last few seasons, the biggest obstacle to this record for James is his health. Injuries have limited the number of games he could play, but that shouldn’t be able to stop him from breaking this record, for the same team that Kareem set it.

Since the breaking of this record is a little bit less certain than Curry’s, I am going to try a few different calculations to see how James could manage this incredible feat.

25 point per game, 120 more games:

If James can maintain the 25 point per game pace that he has consistently scored above in each of his last 17 seasons, then he would only need to play in roughly 60 games both this season (2021-22) and next (2022-23). This would put his record at 38,539, putting him 152 points ahead of Kareem. This seems very manageable for James, especially if he makes it into the rest of the Lakers games this season, as well as most of the games next season.

20 points per game, 143 more games:

If James’ production dropped moderately to only 20 point per game, he would still be able to set the record by the end of the 2022-23 season, or early in the 2023-24 season.

15 points per game, 190 more games:

If Lebron’s scoring drops significantly over the next couple of years, he should still be able to manage the record as a result of his incredible athleticism and the likelihood that he will still be a seriously impactful player into his early 40s.

This record seems to be a near done deal, as long as James plays for a few more seasons and can stay relatively healthy. This record would be another incredible feat for the 4-time NBA Champ who already is 8th all-time in career assists, 12th all-time in career steals, and 3rd all-time in career field goals scored.

Alexander Ovechkin – Most Career NHL Goals

This is by a wide margin the most uncertain of these three records and would be arguably the most impressive one to see broken. Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is currently in 4th place all-time with 742 goals scored in 1214 career games. The incredible part is how Ovechkin has managed this incredible level of scoring in an era of the NHL where scoring goals is inarguably more difficult than ever. Goalies have bigger pads, better gloves, and better strategy, so players have been forced to get better at shooting in order to compensate.

Since entering the league immediately following the lockout season of 2004-05 where no games were played by any team, Ovechkin has consistently been the best and most electrifying goal-scorer in the NHL by a wide margin. The NHL’s award for the player with the most goals at the end of the regular season is called the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy, and Ovechkin has won this award in 9 of his 16 total seasons! Since the introduction of the award at the end of the 1998-99 season, no other player has won more than 2 Rocket Richard trophies. Ovechkin has scored at least 50 goals in 8 different seasons, one behind the record, and has scored at least 40 goals in 11 different seasons, which is good enough for second place.

It is only a matter of time before the 36-year-old passes NHL legends Jaromir Jágr (#3 all-time with 766 goals) and Gordie Howe (#2 all-time with 801 goals), but Ovechkin’s path to becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer is a significantly larger challenge. The current record is held by none other but Wayne Gretzky, a.k.a. the Great One. Many of Gretzky’s statistical achievement during his career are in an entire league of their own, and this is no exception. Gretzky scored 894 goals in his career, 93 goals more than Howe in second place. This puts Ovechkin 152 goals away from tying the record, and 153 away from setting his own.

Ovechkin has had many factors playing against him over his career, from missing an entire season in 2004-05 due to the NHL lock-out, to missing 34 games in 2012-13 due to another lock-out shortened season, as well as two seasons that were shortened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all these challenges, Ovechkin’s incredible goal scoring ability and even more incredible ability to stay healthy have put him in the position to seriously challenge the Great One’s all-time goals record.

Prior to the start of this season (2021-22), Ovechkin signed a brand-new contract for 5 years, giving him plenty of time to break the record. There is a real possibility that this record goes unbroken, but here are a few scenarios where Ovechkin could break it.

Incredible Finish to His Career:

Ovechkin is 153 goals away, and if he finishes this season with 50 goals (he currently has 12 already), then he would be only 115 goals shy of the record with 4 remaining seasons. If Ovechkin had another excellent year next year and scored 45 goals, he would then need 70 goals in 3 seasons. Two late-career seasons with 35 goals each would earn him the record while still affording him a final season to retire early or push the record even further.

Scoring Drops off to Finish His Career:

If Ovechkin scores at the 50-goal pace he is currently working on, he will need only 115 goals in his final four seasons. This would require an average of just under 29 goals per season for the final four years of his career in order for Ovechkin to set the record. The lowest goal total Ovechkin has ever scored in a full season is 32, so 29 seems entirely possible, considering how many of his goals rely only on his excellent shot, and not on his speed.

Regardless of how he gets there, it is becoming more of a “when” than an “if” for Ovechkin to break this once seemingly unbreakable record. I would argue that if Ovechkin is able to break the record and maybe even hit 900 career goals, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy should be renamed the Alexander “Great 8” Ovechkin Trophy.