LeBron James has become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 39-year-old record to add another historic achievement to his already storied career.
LeBron’s 36th point against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, February 7, puts the NBA legend alone atop the league’s all-time scoring list.
For the record, NBA Hall of Famer Kareem had toted up 38,387 points when he ended his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989, a number many thought would never be breached.
More than three decades later, it was coincidentally another Lakers star who passed Kareem’s incredible mark. Entering the game needing 36 points to take the top spot on the list, LeBron finished with 38 points to push his career total to 38,390 and counting.
Incidentally, it is worth noting that market odds were on LeBron only achieving the record during Thursday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Which is why courtside ticket’s for Tuesday’s game were going for $48,403 a pop, while they were an astronomical $68,995 for Thursday’s game.
“I never thought anybody could beat Kareem’s record,” Magic Johnson said during a congratulatory clip, speaking for most NBA observers.
But LeBron, who also played multiple stints in Cleveland bracketing a stretch in Miami, has followed the same path as his fellow Lakers star with consistent, high-level excellence and historic longevity. With double-figure points in all but eight career games, and scoring averages of at least 25 points per game in all 19 seasons since his rookie campaign in 2003-04, James consistently chipped away at the standard Abdul-Jabbar initially set in 1984 and continued to build on until his retirement in 1989.
“Congratulations to LeBron on breaking one of the most hallowed records in all of sports by becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said via a statement. “It’s a towering achievement that speaks to his sustained excellence over 20 seasons in the league. And quite amazingly, LeBron continues to play at an elite level and his basketball history is still being written.”
“To be in the presence of such a legend and great as Kareem, it means so much to me. It’s very humbling,” LeBron said as the game was stopped for a brief ceremony at center court. “To everybody who’s ever been a part of this run with me the last 20 years, I just want to say thank you so much.
“To the NBA … I thank you guys so much for letting me be part of something I’ve always dreamed about. I would never, ever in a million years dreamed it’s better than what it is tonight.”
Said Kareem, “LeBron’s career is one of someone who planned to dominate this game. He had the size and the talent to step right into the NBA, and he immediately had his effect. It’s gone on for 20 years now. He has that indefinable essence that you call leadership, that people want to get behind him.”
