It's not a matter of if LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the No. 1 spot on the NBA's all-time scoring list, it's when. James sits just 1,326 points away from passing the Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers legend, a milestone that should happen at some point this season given James is still performing at peak levels and is coming off a year in which he averaged over 30 points a night. If he averages around the same amount of points as he did a season ago for the Lakers, James could break the record somewhere in the middle of the season, assuming he stays healthy.

The top two prospects in the 2023 NBA Draft will face off two times this week when Victor Wembanyama's Metropolitans 92 team and Scoot Henderson's G League Ignite team meet in exhibition games on Tuesday and Thursday.

With dozens of NBA stars, executives and reportedly around 200 scouts all in attendance Tuesday to watch 7-foot-4 super-prospect Victor Wembanyama face off against Scoot Henderson -- both of whom right now are the clear top two prospects in the 2023 NBA Draft class -- reality somehow exceeded even the much-hyped expectations.

Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is on track to make his return to the court on Monday night in a preseason contest against the Portland Trail Blazers. Prior to the team's opening preseason game against Israeli side Maccabi Ra'anana in Seattle on Friday, Clippers head coach Ty Lue told reporters, "Kawhi will play Monday." 

Steven Adams has agreed to a two-year, $25.2 million contract extension with the Memphis Grizzlies, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Adams still had one year left on his deal, bringing his total compensation up to $43.1 million over three seasons.

With the Golden State Warriors in Japan for a pair of preseason games against the Washington Wizards, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson treated fans to a downtown show on Saturday. 

An investigation by an independent law firm commissioned by the Boston Celtics found that head coach Ime Udoka used crude language toward a female subordinate before starting his alleged inappropriate workplace relationship with her, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Udoka was recently suspended for the entire 2022-23 NBA season over what the team officially called "violations of team policies."

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are going to start for the Los Angeles Lakers when healthy. That much is obvious. But after those two? Things get a bit dicier in the starting lineup. Russell Westbrook was a starter all of last season, but considering the disappointment of missing the play-in, his position is no longer guaranteed. Second-year guard Austin Reaves and trade acquisition Patrick Beverley have been mentioned as candidates to supplant him in the backcourt, whereas Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant are competing for the starting job at center.

The defending champion Golden State Warriors kicked off their 2022-23 preseason slate with a 97-87 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday in Japan. The box score didn't look pretty for three of Golden State's stars, with Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole combining to shoot 3 for 25. 

Some mildly optimistic news about Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball: The team is confident that he'll be able to play at some point this season, according to Shams Charania. Ball had his second knee surgery of the calendar year on Wednesday, and he's reportedly going to be sidelined for at least a few months.