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 1,244 points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 38,387.
At his career scoring average of 27.1 PPG, James would need 46 games to rack up that total, putting him on track to break the record on Jan. 25 against the San Antonio Spurs 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 10 against the Toronto Raptors.
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
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images
James finished with 31 points but missed a game-tying shot at the buzzer as the Lakers fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2018-19. The Lakers have now lost seven of the past nine games in which LeBron has scored at least 30.
LAST 5 GAMES
LeBRON JAMES
On passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
AP PHOTO/DAVID ZALUBOWSKI
The lone 40-point performance for James against the Nuggets came more than a decade ago. In the last game before the 2010 All-Star Break, James had a 43-point, 13-rebound, 15-assist triple-double, but Denver, led by Carmelo Anthony’s 40 points, prevailed in overtime.
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.
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