LeBron James will soon become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
He got within 100 points of the record on Tuesday night with a team-high 28 points as his Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks 129-123 in overtime.
James has now scored 38,299 points in his career (1,058 points in 39 career games against the Dallas Mavericks), placing him 89 points away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the hallowed record that has stood for nearly 39 years.
With an average of 30.2 points a game this season, James is on pace to break the record either on February 7 at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder or in his next game on February 9 at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 38-year-old star is not just a scorer; he added 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the Knicks, making him the oldest player in the history of the NBA to record a 20-point triple-double, per OPTA Sports.
His 11 assists brought his career assists total to 10,338, moving him to No.4 on the all-time assists list, ahead of Mark Jackson (10,334) and Steve Nash (10,335). He is now the only player in the history of the NBA to rank in the top five in all-time points and assists.
“That’s what I love to do, get my guys involved, try to put the ball on time and on target with my guys throughout the course of my career,” James said postgame.
Bob Ryan, a retired sports columnist for the Boston Globe who covered both James and Abdul-Jabbar, told The Dallas Express there is not enough one could say to describe James’ impending accomplishment.
“The fact that he’s stayed in the condition that he has, that he is still viable and as dynamic as he ever was, at age 38, is extraordinary, so that fact is paramount,” said Ryan.
“It is doubly fascinating because he’s also fourth in the all-time assist total… it’s hard to believe; if we hadn’t lived through it, we wouldn’t have believed if someone told you 20 years ago, somebody would come along and would break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record and, oh, by the way, would be in the top five in assists as well, you would have had a hard time believing that.”
James also ranks 32nd all-time in rebounds, ninth in steals, and ninth in 3-pointers made, and he has been named to six all-defensive teams.
James’ ability to sustain a high level of all-around play during his 20-season career has put his name in the conversation as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, along with Michael Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and a few others.
“He’s just a kid who’s grown before our eyes, the last 20 years at this level, has done nothing but play the right way and make the play that’s in front of him,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after Tuesday’s game.
“Regardless of how much he’s been criticized for a while for not taking the last shots and the overpassing, he’s just making the right plays. You saw that again tonight.”
Even at age 38, James has shown no signs of slowing down. He played a team-high 43 minutes against the Knicks and ranks ninth in the league in minutes per game this season.
“I’m going to be in this league at least a few more years,” he said on Tuesday.
That suggests James might not just surpass the record Abdul-Jabbar set by playing through age 41, he could shatter it and set a new mark that no player may ever reach again.
Ryan said he would never say never when asked if someone would ever surpass the new scoring record James will set.
“It’s unlikely but not impossible that someone will come along and will duplicate that,” said Ryan.
“I mean, when we saw Michael, they get compared to each other, for obvious reasons, and the idea that someone would come along to enter the discussion with Michael Jordan would have been hard for us to believe 20 years ago, but it’s happened.
“And so, I won’t say it’s impossible, but it’s going to have to be a hell of a player that, obviously, maybe some kid out there is going to be that player. We don’t know.”
Still, James’ Lakers are currently 13th in the West with a 24-28 record but just three games back of fifth place in a highly competitive Western Conference.
Even with the publicity around his chase to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, James would say his first focus this season is turning around his team and making the playoffs.
The four-time NBA champion, most recently with the Lakers in 2020, has never suggested he values individual statistics more than winning.
“Not at all,” he said when asked how often he thinks of the scoring record during games.
“I didn’t get to this point in my career by thinking about records or how many points I have,” he continued. “Maybe when I get super-duper close, maybe it will be at the back of my mind or the front of my mind. But I never put that type of pressure on myself. I just go and play.”
Note: This article was updated on February 2, 2023, at 3:43 p.m. to include comments from Bob Ryan.