When LeBron James passed
Karl Malone for second
on the NBA’s career regular-season points list, he set his sights firmly on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the
NBA’s current all-time leading scorer.
Abdul-Jabbar has been atop the career points list since April 5, 1984 — eight months before James was even born — when he broke the mark previously held by Wilt Chamberlain. Now James has that record within reach, needing 1,107 points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 38,387.
At his career scoring average of 27.1 PPG, James would need 41 games to rack up that total, putting him on track to break the record on Jan. 28 against the Boston Celtics if he plays every game between now and then. If James misses games at the same rate he did last season, the record-breaking game would come March 12 against the New York Knicks. Through nine games this season, James is averaging 24.3 PPG, leaving him slightly behind his career pace.
We’ll have ongoing coverage of LeBron’s quest, including updated game-by-game projections and complete stats, throughout the season.
JAMES VS. ABDUL-JABBAR
James is now in his 20th season, the same number Abdul-Jabbar played in his
career. And while the legendary Lakers big man posted bigger scoring numbers early in his playing days, James’ lengthy prime (18 consecutive seasons averaging at least 25 PPG) has allowed him to close
the gap.
JAMES
ABDUL-JABBAR
YEAR-BY-YEAR POINT TOTALS
20TH YEAR COMPARISON
it, I’ll be very happy for him. The game will always improve when records like that are
broken.”
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images
James had a team-high 27 points, going 1-for-4 from 3-point range. James snapped a spell of 16 consecutive missed 3-point attempts.
LAST 5 GAMES
sought-after record in the NBA, things that people say would probably never be done, I think it’s
just super humbling for myself. I think it’s super cool.”
LeBRON JAMES
On passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
MARK J. TERRILL/AP PHOTO
James is averaging under 24 PPG in his past eight outings against the Jazz, but six of those have been Lakers wins. He does have two 30-point games in that span, but hasn’t reached the 40-point mark against Utah since 2007.
MORE LEBRON JAMES
Edited by Adam Reisinger.
Produced by ESPN Creative Studio: Michelle Bashaw, Rob Booth, Chris DeLisle, Jessi Dodge, Heather Donahue,
Jarret Gabel, Luke Knox, Rachel Weiss.
Illustrations by Iveta Karpathyova. Development by Christian Ramirez. Research by ESPN Stats and
Information.
