If you haven t retired twice, can Jordan get 40,000 points? You may not believe it if you say it

In the long history of the NBA, Jordan is undoubtedly the most dazzling star among stars, and his name has almost become synonymous with basketball. In the 1990s, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to win three consecutive championships twice, and his personal honors were countless: 6 Finals MVP, 5 regular season MVP, 10 scoring champion, etc. With his unparalleled field domination and personal influence, Jordan is also known as the "God of Basketball".

The reason why Jordan's career is very legendary is largely because he retired twice in the middle. This made countless fans wonder if Jordan had not retired midway, could his total career score exceed the 40,000-point mark? You may not believe the answer to this question. Back in 1993, Jordan made a decision that shocked the world after leading the Bulls to achieve their first three-game title feat - retire and instead went to the baseball arena. Behind this choice is the grief brought by his father's unexpected death and the temporary loss of his sense of basketball challenge. At that time, Jordan was only 30 years old and was at the peak of his physical and competitive state.

If Jordan had not left, with his competitive level at that time, it would be no difficult to average 30 points per game. If he played in 80 games in a single season, he would have easily scored 4,800 points in the two seasons of 1993-1995. Even considering the overlap in the score after his comeback in 1994-95 season, he can increase at least 4,343 points. And it should be noted that this is just a conservative estimate. He averaged 32.6 points per game in the previous season of retirement and scored 2,541 points in a single season.

In 1998, Jordan chose to retire again after leading the Bulls to complete his second three-game championship. It was not until 2001 that Jordan returned to the arena and joined the Washington Wizards.

Assuming that Jordan has not been away from the field in these three years, how will his scoring performance be? Jordan, 35, was ranked first in scoring with 28.7 points per game in the 1997-98 season, and his competitive form is still hot. It is reasonable to estimate that his average score per game in the past three years may be 28 points, 27 points, and 25 points. After all, in front of the old man, even stronger than Jordan will decline. If he played 75 games in a single season, he would have scored about 6,000 points in these three years.

To sum up, Jordan's original career score was 32,292 points. If two retirements have not happened, he is expected to score 10,343 more points and the total score will reach 42,635 points. In other words, if it weren't for the two retirements, Jordan might have surpassed Jabbar to the top of the historical scoring list and became the first 40,000-pointer in history.

However, Jordan's greatness is never limited to data. He once said: "I never play for data, otherwise I would not have chosen to retire in 1993, but to attack Jabbar's historical total score record." For Jordan, championship and victory are his ultimate pursuit. Basketball is not only an external thing such as scoring and honor, but also a conquest of challenges, a breakthrough in limits, and a persistence in love.