LeBron James becomes highest scoring NBA player of all time

By Dominic Punt
Published
LeBron James

LeBron James has cemented himself as arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time by becoming the NBA's leading points scorer.

He surpasses the previous record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a total of 38,387 points that was reached by the forward in 1989.

James broke this record in the 20th season of his hall-of-fame-worthy career whilst playing for the Los Angeles Lakers against Oklahoma City Thunder at the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles.

As well as becoming the leader points scorer, James has won four NBA Championships, appeared in 19 consecutive NBA All Star games and won the league's Most Valuable Player award on four occasions.

Impressively, LeBron has passed the scoring record with less games and minutes played than Abdul-Jabbar. He has also made significantly more three point shots, with over 2,300 compared to Kareem's sole bucket from beyond the arc.

In 2003, James was drafted straight out of high school to the Cleveland Cavaliers before moving as a free agent to Miami Heat in 2010 and going on to win two championships in the Sunshine State.

He moved back to his home state of Ohio and the Cavs in 2014 and delivered their first Championship in 2016. He then moved to his current home in Los Angeles in 2018.

His many accolades within the NBA mean that he also holds several Guinness World Records titles:

  • Youngest individual to reach 5,000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000 points in an NBA career
  • First player to record a triple-double against every NBA team
  • Youngest individual to win Most Valuable Player in the All-Star game - 21 years and 51 days old
  • Most NBA postseason wins by a player - 174

As for future aspirations, James has expressed a desire to play alongside his son, LeBron 'Bronny' James Jr.

The 18-year-old could bypass college like his father did and if so, they could be teammates in the 2023-24 season.

LeBron James in a Lakers jersey

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