LeBron James becomes the second player to reach 38,000 career NBA points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who is the only player to score more points than him.
James made a jump jumper for the 38,000th point of his career on Sunday against the 76ers. He entered the game needing 11 points to become just the second player in team history to score over 38,000. His total was 35. In his career, Abdul-Jabbar amassed 38,387 points and won six championships. James, who now has four, needs 363 points to break the record held by the old-timer.
On ESPN’s SportsCenter on August 24, 2022, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader said he would “try to be there” when James finally set the mark. James had accumulated 37,063 points for his career at the time, and now, less than a year later, he is only 363 points behind Abdul-Jabbar. James, a four-time NBA champion, extended his contract with the Lakers on August 18, 2022, allowing him to beat Abdul-Jabbar’s record while wearing the same uniform.
“If LeBron breaks the record and it looks like he has every reason to break it I’ll be very happy for him. The game continuously improves when records like that are broken, so LeBron should enjoy his achievement. He’s worked very hard to get this far, and for him, he’ll get to wait and see who’ll be lucky enough to break his record if that’s going to happen.
“It’s always about passing it on to the next guy in line. Well, if I’m still around, of course [I’ll be there when James breaks it]. So I’ll try and make it by the game and cheer him on. He certainly deserves every accolade that’s out there for him.”
