Team USA’s two-time Olympic gold medallist is setting new milestones as he passes 48,000 points in all NBA play, having broken the career regular season record previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Basketball hero LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time top scorer, but he isn’t finished yet.
The American became the first player to pass the 40,000 regular season points mark on 2 March 2023, taking his total tally beyong 48,000 career points total between the regular season and playoffs.
This season has also seen him become the first man to lift the NBA Cup, after his Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in the final of the NBA In-Season Tournament on Saturday 9 December 2023.
The Lakers star, who turned 39 on 30 December 2024, overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in career points during a memorable game on Tuesday 7 February 2023, scoring 38 to give himself a total of 38,390 regular season points, in a 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Abdul-Jabbar had held the record with 38,387 points in regular season games.
Three-time Team USA Olympian and two-time gold medal winner LeBron has since continued to extend his record. He moved on to 38,652 regular season points at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, but surpassed the 39,000 mark early in the 2023/24 campaign, and progressed beyond 40,000 on 2 March in a defeat to the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Kevin Durant moved above Moses Malone into 10th place in December 2023 and is the only other active player in the top 10.
Durant has since overtaken fellow Olympic gold medallists Carmelo Anthony and Shaquille O’Neal this season to go eighth on the all-time list, but he has a long way to go to reach Wilt Chamberlain in seventh place.
James also holds the record for playoff points with 8,023 (following the 2022/2023 season), according to the NBA.
Retired great Michael Jordan is second on the playoff points list with 5,987.
In a sport where discussion rages as to who is the greatest of all time – with Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird all in the mix – two-time Olympic gold medallist James certainly advanced his cause in the conversation by surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s regular-season total.
NBA’S ALL-TIME SCORING LIST: TOP 10 (REGULAR SEASON ONLY)
NBA’s All-Time scoring list: Top 10 (regular season only, after 22 March 2024)PositionNameTotal points
1.LeBron James40,199
2.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar38,387
3.Karl Malone36,928
4.Kobe Bryant33,643
5.Michael Jordan32,292
6.Dirk Nowitzki31,560
7.Wilt Chamberlain31,419
8.Kevin Durant28,629
9.Shaquille O’Neal28,596
10.Carmelo Anthony28,289
LeBron James: Top facts about US basketball legend
LEBRON JAMES: CAREER RECORDS AND STATS
- NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004
- Four-time NBA Champion: 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
- Four-time NBA Finals MVP: 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
- Four-time NBA MVP: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
- 18-time NBA All-Star selection: 2005-2022
- Three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008, 2018
- Three-time Olympic medallist (gold: Beijing 2008, London 2012, bronze: Athens 2004)
- FIBA World Cup medallist (bronze: 2006)
- Only player in NBA history to have at least 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists
- Only player in NBA history to score 10 points or more in 1,000 consecutive games
- First player to pass 39,000 and 40,000 regular season points in the NBA.
- First man to pass 6,000, 7,000, and 8,000 NBA playoff points.
