Lakers’ LeBron James Passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Becomes NBA’s No. 1 All-Time Scorer | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

By Editor On Feb 8, 2023

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - MARCH 27: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands on the court prior to the start of an NBA game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on March 27, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

LeBron James stands alone.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar is now the top scorer in NBA history, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points in the third quarter of Tuesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Here’s the moment James made history:

NBA on TNT @NBAonTNT

HISTORY. With this bucket, LeBron James moves past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer! <a href=”https://t.co/N6V5RxPe6r”>pic.twitter.com/N6V5RxPe6r</a>

Suffice to say, social media was singing James’ praises after the historic moment:

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

LEBRON JAMES IS THE NBA’S ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER ? <a href=”https://t.co/Q7M7zfzLV5″>pic.twitter.com/Q7M7zfzLV5</a>

Earvin Magic Johnson @MagicJohnson

Congratulations to LeBron for breaking the NBA all-time scoring record with 38,388 career points! ???<a href=”https://twitter.com/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KingJames</a>

Ja Morant @JaMorant

Greatest of All Time ? ??????????????

Dejounte Murray @DejounteMurray

LeBron James Is The GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!! ? Debate OVER!!!!! ?

James Harden @JHarden13

One of One! Congrats bro <a href=”https://twitter.com/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KingJames</a>

Stephen Curry @StephenCurry30

Congrats <a href=”https://twitter.com/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KingJames</a> …legendary stuff right there ? #38388

Patrick Mahomes II @PatrickMahomes

Congrats!!! <a href=”https://twitter.com/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KingJames</a> legendary stuff!! ??????

Jalen Ramsey @jalenramsey

? <a href=”https://twitter.com/KingJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KingJames</a>

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA

Amazing. Just amazing. That’s a shot we’ll see forever. Congrats LeBron!

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA

LeBron hitting the fade for the record is perfect

Joon Lee @joonlee

LeBron was anointed The Chosen One at 18 and somehow exceeded the hype Truly absurd <a href=”https://t.co/BpJxNJp6rz”>pic.twitter.com/BpJxNJp6rz</a>

The rest of the top five in career scoring is Karl Malone (36,928 points), Kobe Bryant (33,643 points) and Michael Jordan (32,292 points).

Coming into the 2022-23 season, James sat at 37,062 points and well within striking distance of the Hall of Fame center he was chasing, barring injuries. In his career, James had only failed to score at least 1,326 points—the amount he trailed Abdul-Jabbar by to start the campaign—once, in the 2020-21 season when he played just 45 games.

Add this latest accomplishment to James’ resume for GOAT consideration:

Nineteen All-Star Game nods
Four MVP awards
Four championships
Four NBA Finals MVP awards
Thirteen first-team All-NBA selections
The 2003-04 Rookie of the Year award
Five first-team All-Defensive selections
Fifteen playoff berths
All-time leading playoff scorer (7,631 points)

James had already set the record for combined regular-season and playoff scoring last year:

Dave McMenamin @mcten

LeBron James has now scored more points than any other player in league history between the regular season and playoffs combined. The record-setting bucket: <a href=”https://t.co/o43WjumoPP”>pic.twitter.com/o43WjumoPP</a>

He said in March 2022 when he moved to second place on the all-time scoring list that he wasn’t trying to focus on tracking down Abdul-Jabbar’s legendary mark.

“I will not allow myself to think about it. I’ve always just played the game the way I’ve been playing it over the years, and these things have just happened organically by just going out and playing the game the right way,” James told reporters. “Hope to accomplish that at some point in my career, but I won’t think about it too much.”

Abdul-Jabbar also hinted in a tweet on James’ most recent birthday that he was ready to see the Lakers’ superstar surpass his scoring record:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar @kaj33

Happy birthday, LeBron. 38 is the new 38,388.

And now the deed is done. It’s more history for James, as he adds another accomplishment to one of the greatest careers in NBA history.

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