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.
James enters the 2022-23 season, his 20th in the NBA, needing only 1,326 points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s
career total of 38,387. Given that James has scored at least 1,500 points in 18 of his previous 19
seasons, it seems likely that he’ll break the record this year, ending Abdul-Jabbar’s 38-year run as the
NBA’s most prolific 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, and we’ll have ongoing coverage of his quest, including updated game-by-game projections and
complete stats.
JAMES VS. ABDUL-JABBAR
James is now in his 20th season, the same number Abdul-Jabbar played in his
legendary career. And while the legendary Lakers big man posted bigger scoring numbers early in his
career, James’ lengthy prime (15 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’ 2021-22 season came to an early end after a 38-point performance in a
loss to the Pelicans. With the Lakers already eliminated from play-in contention and James nursing an
injured ankle, the team shut him down with five games to go. He scored at least 36 points in each of the
last five games he played.
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
NOAH GRAHAM/NBAE via GETTY IMAGES
James opens the season against the Golden State Warriors, the team he famously
faced four times in the NBA Finals. When these two teams last met in March, James scored a
season-high 56 points on 19-of-31 shooting to lead the Lakers to a win.
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. Deveopment by Christian Ramirez. Research by ESPN Stats and
Information.
