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 602 points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 38,387.
At his career scoring average of 27.1 PPG, James would need 23 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 eight games this season. If he misses games at the same rate he did last season, the record-breaking game would come March 12 against the New York Knicks. Through 26 games this season, James is averaging 27.8 PPG, putting him ahead of 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 eight 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 724 points in 26 games in 2022-23, just 24 fewer than Abdul-Jabbar scored the entire season.
JAMES
ABDUL-JABBAR
YEAR-BY-YEAR POINT TOTALS
20TH YEAR COMPARISON
TYRONN LUE
LA Clippers coach
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
James had 24 points through three quarters, but scored just 4 in the final frame of the Lakers’ blowout win, snapping his streak of 30-point games.
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 Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
ISSAC BALDIZON/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES
In his first meeting with the Heat as a member of the Lakers, James lit up his old team for 51 points back in 2018.
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.