Stephen Curry added yet another milestone to his legendary resume on Thursday night, becoming the first player in NBA history to make 4,000 career three-pointers. The Golden State Warriors superstar has earned a mark against the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center, further cementing his position as one of the greatest shooters of all time.
Editor’s Pick
1 Related
Curry was in his own league from Deep as he had covered Lee Allen’s 2,974 since becoming the 3S’s all-time leader on December 14, 2021. La Clippers Guard James Harden is the most active player with 3,127, with Allen sitting third on the list.
That made us think: what other sports records might not break? Whether it’s the evolution of the game or the greatness of the purity of the people who set it up, some marks feel completely out of hand. This is a short list of records that may not be broken – at least not in our lifetimes.
LeBron James: 50,000+ total points (active)
play
0:29
LeBron reaches 50,000 points
LeBron James will score a total of 50,000 points in the regular season and playoffs.
James became the first player in NBA history, scoring a total of 50,000 points in the regular and postseason on March 4th.
James, who turned 40 in December, is currently sitting at 50,086 career points. It combines the regular season with the playoffs. In comparison, Kevin Durant, the next highest active player, is nearly 15,000 behind James’ mark. Durant was only four years younger than James, and gave him a nearly impossible mountain to climb to make up for that deficit.
Emmitt Smith: 18,355 rush yards
Active Leader: Derrick Henry (11,423)
Smith broke the 16,726-yard rushing record for Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton in 2002. Of course, Smith was not yet fully complete. He played another 2½ seasons and was wound up with 18,355 rushing yards.
This is a milestone with little chance of breaking. For one thing, it’s Emmit Smith, which we’re talking about. The man basically rushed through the 1,000-yard season like clockwork forever. But the NFL has changed quite a bit since then. Crime doesn’t focus on running backs like before, and it seems impossible to play as long as Smith has done as a ball carrier.
It’s hard to see how everyone can break Emmitt Smith’s career rush yard record. Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Jerry Rice: 22,895 Received yards
Active Leader: Deandre Hopkins (12,965)
Rice had an incredible 14 seasons, including over 1,000 receiving yards. Most of this was his incredible durability. He only played two games out of 21 years. Rice was also able to go from one Hall of Fame quarterback (Joe Montana) to another Hall of Fame (Steve Young). But let’s be real. Rice has been more or less revealed for the 20th consecutive year. It also explains why no one catches his incoming touchdown record. He has 197, with Randimos scores 41 less.
Active Leader: Sydney Crosby (1,051)
The old proverb about “great things” is that if he has never scored a single goal in his career, he still led the NHL in total points with assists alone. To give you a sense of how difficult it is for someone to do it, he has to average 98 assists a year in his 20-year career just to approach that total. From 1990 to 91… since Wayne Gretzky, he has not actually had more than 98 assists in a single season. Overall, it’s only been made three times by an unnamed player named Wayne Gretzky (one by Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr).
There’s a reason they called him “great things.” B Bennett/Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images
Cy Young: 749 Complete Game
Active Leader: Justin Verlander (26)
Unless there’s a dramatic change in the way teams approach pitching, there’s no way something on the level of “every pitcher is literally a robot” can get closer to Young’s full game mark. All total MLB pitchers had 36 full games in 2022. Young had more than 36 complete games himself in 11 seasons. While we’re working on it, it seems very unlikely that anyone will soon approach Young’s 511 wins or 315 losses.
Wilt Chamberlain: 50.4 ppg for single season (1961-62)
Active Leader: James Harden (36.1 ppg, 2018-19)
Kobe Bryant was something we could call a prolific scorer, right? He had over 50 games in the 2006-07 campaign. From 1961 to 62, Wilt had over 70 games, 45 50 plus point games, 15 60 plus point games, and three more than 70 games. This isn’t happening unless the NBA introduces a 4-point shot. And yet…
No player has approached Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game. AP Photo/Paul Vathis
Active Leader: Boston Celtics (1)
Do you know how difficult it is to win one title in the NBA? Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers managed three straights. The Stephen Curry/Clay Thompson/Draymond Green Warriors did it four times in a row in 2016 to beat LeBron James & Company. These were incredible teams…but in the modern NBA, it’s hard for almost every team to win playoff time. The Celtics had the advantage of the greatest player ever from Bil Russell, Red Auerbach’s greatest coach of all time.
Simone Biles: 30 World Gymnastics Gold Medal
Active Leader: Simone Biles
To feel for you how far Biles is from her competition, there are nine gymnasts next decorated in terms of world gold medal Svetlana Khorkina. There are also two other active female gymnasts. Perhaps because they had the great misfortune of competing with Biles at the same time.
It will take a long time for everyone to break Simone Biles’ gold medal record. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Cal Ripken Jr. : 2,632 consecutive games played
Active Leader: Matt Olson (492)
This is also one of these records, and how the game is played more than anything else. Certainly, Ripken was extraordinarily durable. However, these days he would have been encouraged to take a few days off from time to time.
UConn Huskies Women’s Basketball: 111 games winning streak
Active Leader: Florida Gulf Eagles (20)
The next best winning streak on this list (90) is also held by UConn Huskies, so if you see it breaking again, it will probably come from a Connecticut stall. Realistically, Geno Auriemma’s team has been so historically dominant that it is difficult to see this absurd, unbeaten streak again, even with the newer versions.
For years, I couldn’t beat the Husky. Jim Dedmon/USA Today Sports.
Active Leader: Sterling Marte (354)
Baseball writer Bill James once said that if Ricky Henderson was split between two people, there would be two Hall of Fames. Well, if you split him into four, you’ll still have a guy with a more stolen base than your current active leader. People still post big stolen base campaigns. Jose Reyes stole a 78 in 2007. However, Henderson’s pure consistency and lifespan made this record unreachable. Put another way, to break Henderson’s records, 78 bases a year must maintain that mark for at least 18 seasons.
Michael Phelps: 28 Olympic Medals
Active Leader: Katyle Decky (14)
Not only is Phelps the most Olympic medal ever, but he also recorded a gold medal (23) record in one Olympics (8 times in the Beijing Games in 2008) and holds individual gold medals. There are many events in swimming and therefore many opportunities to win, but Phelps’ advantage remains unparalleled with other Olympians.
