By the Numbers: James on the cusp of NBA history
Published
LeBron James has amassed a historic trophy cabinet in his 20 NBA seasons, but he is just a few games away from the most prolific record yet - becoming the all-time NBA scoring champion.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for points scored with 38,387. James currently sits 157 points shy of that mark, and at his current season average of 29.9 points per game, he is set to surpass it within the next six games.
Watch LeBron continue his run towards history as the Los Angeles Lakers renew their classic rivalry with the Boston Celtics LIVE on TSN5, TSN.ca and the TSN App on Saturday at 8:30pm EST / 5:30pm PST.
Abdul-Jabbar used his signature skyhook shot to take the scoring record from another all-time great scoring big, Wilt Chamberlain, on April 5, 1984. Abdul-Jabbar played another five season after setting the new standard, padding his lead by over 7,000 points.
Six other players held the scoring record before Abdul-Jabbar: Joe Fulks (1946-52), George Mikan (1952-57), Ed Macauley (1957), Dolph Schayes (1957-63), Bob Pettit (1936-66) and Chamberlain from 1966-84. Abdul-Jabbar's 39 years with the record cemented it as a record some thought unreachable.
While Abdul-Jabbar was an unguardable force for most of his career, his scoring mark is a much a comment on longevity as it is overall skill.
Many other all-time great scoring threats, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone were able to surpass Chamberlain's scoring mark, but none of them could stay on the court long enough to challenge Abdul-Jabbar.
James has both the longevity (his 1,405 career games are the most of any player who averaged above 26 points per game for their career) and the efficiency (his 27.2 career points per game are the most of any player to play more than 1,350 career games) required to claim the illustrious scoring record.
All-time NBA scoring leaders - Entering Saturday's Game
| Player | Team(s) | Games | Points | Points per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | MIL/LAL | 1,560 | 38,387 | 24.6 |
| LeBron James | CLE/MIA/LAL | 1,405 | 38,230 | 27.2 |
| Karl Malone | UTA/LAL | 1,476 | 36,928 | 25.0 |
| Kobe Bryant | LAL | 1,346 | 33,643 | 25.0 |
| Michael Jordan | CHI/WAS | 1,072 | 32,292 | 30.1 |
Additionally, James, 38, has accumulated these numbers playing different roles for different teams. He has primarily featured as a small forward, but has also worked as a point guard, power forward and shooting guard in various offences through his career.
Playing as a point guard for the Lakers in the 2019-20 season, James led the NBA in assists with 10.2 per game. Amongst the top-25 all-time scoring players, only Chamberlain has also accomplished that feat, when he averaged 8.6 assists per game in 1967-68.
The highest-scoring player of all-time with a career average of more than James' 7.0 career assists per game is Russell Westbrook, and he ranks 33rd all-time with 24,027 points.
The Akron, OH native spoke about his evolution as a player that has been so central to his pursuit of the scoring record in a recent interview with ESPN.
"There were times where I didn't really have a low-post game -- I wasn't a low-post threat," James said. "There were times when I wasn't a threat from the midrange. There were times when I wasn't a threat from the outside. There were times when you literally could just try to bait me into doing things that I wasn't great at. I've evolved into where I do what I want to do on the floor. And I take the shot that I want to take."
James has already played a fabulous career that includes 18 All-Star teams, four MVPs, 18 All-NBA teams and four NBA championships - but the scoring record may be the cherry on top.