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 796 points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 38,387.
At his career scoring average of 27.1 PPG, James would need 30 games to rack up that total, putting him on track to break the record on Feb. 11 against the Golden State Warriors. James has missed seven games this season, and if he continues to miss games at the same rate he did last season, the record-breaking game would come March 12 against the New York Knicks. Through 20 games this season, James is averaging 26.5 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
Even though James has already missed seven games this season, he’s significantly ahead of the pace Abdul-Jabbar set in his 20th and final season in 1988-89. James has scored 530 points in 20 games in 2022-23; Abdul-Jabbar need 49 games to reach that mark.
JAMES
ABDUL-JABBAR
YEAR-BY-YEAR POINT TOTALS
20TH YEAR COMPARISON
TYRONN LUE
LA Clippers coach
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
In the 122-118 overtime loss against Boston, James notched his seventh 30-point game of the season, finishing with 33. James was 14-of-25 from the field and 3-of-11 from 3.
LAST 5 GAMES
LeBRON JAMES
On passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
MICHAEL OWEN BAKER/AP PHOTO
James has scored 19 and 26 points in two games against the Nuggets this season. He has 1,026 career regular-season points in 39 games against Denver in his career.
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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