How the NBA scoring record evolved from Wilt to Kareem to LeBron
Wilt Chamberlain knew there was no shortcut to becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.
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When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was on the cusp of passing Chamberlain’s career scoring record in 1984, Chamberlain saluted Abdul-Jabbar’s longevity and consistency. After all, Abdul-Jabbar had needed 15 consecutive seasons of averaging at least 21 points per game to pass Chamberlain’s 31,419 points. Now, after averaging at least 20 points per game for 20 straight seasons, LeBron James broke Abdul-Jabbar’s record.
40K points
35K
30K
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
25K
20K
15K
10K
5K
0
’60-’61
’70-’71
’80-’81
’90-’91
’00-’01
’10-’11
’22-’23
Season
40K points
35K
30K
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
25K
20K
15K
10K
5K
0
’60-’61
’70-’71
’80-’81
’90-’91
’00-’01
’10-’11
’22-’23
Season
40,000 points
35,000
30,000
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1960-61
1970-71
1980-81
1990-91
2000-01
2010-11
2022-23
Season
40,000 points
35,000
30,000
25,000
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1954-55
1960-61
1970-71
1980-81
1990-91
2000-01
2010-11
2022-23
Season
40K points
Wilt
Chamberlain
31,419
1973
35K
30K
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
25K
1966
20K
15K
10K
5K
0
’60-’61
’70-’71
’80-’81
’90-’91
’00-’01
’10-’11
’22-’23
Season
40K points
Wilt
Chamberlain
31,419
1973
35K
30K
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
25K
1966
20K
15K
10K
5K
0
’60-’61
’70-’71
’80-’81
’90-’91
’00-’01
’10-’11
’22-’23
Season
40,000 points
Wilt Chamberlain
31,419
1973
35,000
30,000
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
25,000
1966
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1960-61
1970-71
1980-81
1990-91
2000-01
2010-11
2022-23
Season
40,000 points
35,000
Wilt Chamberlain
31,419
1973
30,000
25,000
Bob Pettit
20,880
1965
1966
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1954-55
1960-61
1970-71
1980-81
1990-91
2000-01
2010-11
2022-23
Season
40K points
Wilt
Chamberlain
31,419
1973
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
31,420
Apr. 5, 1984
35K
30K
25K
1966
20K
15K
10K
5K
0
’60-’61
’70-’71
’80-’81
’90-’91
’00-’01
’10-’11
’22-’23
Season
40K points
Wilt
Chamberlain
31,419
1973
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
31,420
Apr. 5, 1984
35K
30K
25K
1966
20K
15K
10K
5K
0
’60-’61
’70-’71
’80-’81
’90-’91
’00-’01
’10-’11
’22-’23
Season
40,000 points
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
31,420
Apr. 5, 1984
Wilt Chamberlain
31,419
1973
35,000
30,000
25,000
1966
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1960-61
1970-71
1980-81
1990-91
2000-01
2010-11
2022-23
Season
40,000 points
35,000
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
31,420
Apr. 5, 1984
Wilt Chamberlain
31,419
1973
30,000
25,000
1966
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1954-55
1960-61
1970-71
1980-81
1990-91
2000-01
2010-11
2022-23
Season
Hall of Fame forward Bob Pettit became the first NBA player to reach 20,000 points in 1964. He retired in 1965 with a career average of 26.4 points across an 11-year career, opening the door for Chamberlain to rewrite the history books.
Chamberlain surpassed Pettit’s career tally of 20,880 points in 1966. The Hall of Fame center then became the first NBA player to reach 30,000 points in 1972 before he retired in 1973 with 31,419.
Though Chamberlain now ranks seventh on the all-time scoring list, he held the record for more than 18 years, until Abdul-Jabbar broke it in 1984.
Thirty-three years nine months after Abdul-Jabbar’s last regular season game and almost 39 years after Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Chamberlain’s mark, James set the new record.
Karl Malone is the only player besides Abdul-Jabbar and James to pass the 35,000-point barrier, but he, like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, fell short of Abdul-Jabbar’s mark.
“If someone’s going to take your record, I think you’ve got to feel good about who it is,” Chamberlain said of Abdul-Jabbar. “He definitely deserves it. It’s no fluke of a record. It’s something that took a lot of years, a lot of time, a lot of two and three guys hanging on him, and he has done it.”
Abdul-Jabbar moved past Chamberlain by drilling a signature sky hook against the Utah Jazz on April 5, 1984. Less than nine months later, LeBron James was born in Akron, Ohio.
James’s journey to unseat Abdul-Jabbar has been even longer and more grueling, given that the Hall of Fame center played for an additional five seasons after passing Chamberlain, retiring in 1989 at 42 with 38,387 points. Now that James has passed Abdul-Jabbar, he will own arguably the NBA’s most hallowed individual statistical achievement, one that reflects his own reliability, endurance and scoring prowess.
“I’m all for him doing it,” Abdul-Jabbar said last year. “There’s no envy there.”
Claiming this crown has taken James 20 sterling seasons, though he reached the mark in fewer games and with a higher career scoring average than Abdul-Jabbar. Still, Abdul-Jabbar’s record has stood for more than 38 years, surviving challenges from Malone, Jordan and Bryant.
“I’m kind of in awe of it,” James said in September. “Wow. To sit here and know I’m on the verge of breaking probably the most sought-after record in the NBA, things that people said would never be done, it’s super humbling for myself. It’s super cool.”
Unmatched staying power
James has been able to avoid the type of career-altering injuries that limited Malone and Bryant, and he never took a midcareer sabbatical like Jordan. Instead, the four-time champion entered the NBA out of high school in 2003, made his debut at 18 and topped 20 points per game in his rookie season. James enjoyed a head start compared with Abdul-Jabbar, who spent four seasons at UCLA. Abdul-Jabbar made his NBA debut at 22 in 1969.
60 points
per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
20.9
20
10
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
60 points
per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
20.9
20
10
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
60 points per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
20.9
20
10
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
60 points per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.3
30.2
30
20.9
20
10
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
60 points
per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
20.9
20
Average of points per game for players with more than 20,000 career points
10
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
60 points
per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
20.9
Average of points per game for players with more than 20,000 career points
20
10
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
60 points per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
20.9
20
Average of points per game for players with more than 20,000 career points
10
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
60 points per game
50
40
LeBron
James
31.4
30.3
30.2
30
20.9
20
Average of points per game for players with more than 20,000 career points
10
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
60 points
per game
50
40
LeBron
James
34.8
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
23.4
20.9
20
10
10.1
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
60 points
per game
50
40
LeBron
James
34.8
31.4
30.2
30.3
30
23.4
20.9
20
10.1
10
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
43
60 points per game
50
40
LeBron
James
34.8
31.4
30
30.3
30
23.4
20.9
20
10.1
10
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
60 points per game
50
40
LeBron
James
34.8
31.4
30.3
30.2
30
23.4
20.9
20
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar
10.1
10
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
James, 38, keeps scoring as if he is still in his 20s. This season is tied for his third-best mark (30.2 points per game), trailing only the 30.3 points he averaged last season and his 31.4 in 2005-06.
NBA players typically decline as scorers when they enter their mid-30s, but James’s numbers have largely held steady.
Abdul-Jabbar averaged 23.4 points at James’s current age of 38 and 10.1 points in his final season at 42.
Even Chamberlain, who scored an NBA-record 50.4 points per game in his third season, saw his scoring drop noticeably as he approached retirement. He averaged 13.2 points in his final season.
While Abdul-Jabbar held the crown for more than twice as long as Chamberlain, he had to withstand a strong challenge from Malone, who scored more than 20 points per game for 17 straight seasons with Utah. Malone, who is third all-time with 36,928 points, finally ran out of steam when he turned 40 and suffered a knee injury, averaging a career-low 13.2 points in the 2003-04 campaign, his first and only season with the Lakers.
Malone weighed a possible comeback after knee surgery but retired without playing another game, falling 1,459 points shy of Abdul-Jabbar. His real regret, he said in 2005, was never winning a title.
“I wanted a championship,” Malone said. “I’m not going to lie to you. That was my ultimate goal, but that was a team goal. That wasn’t an individual goal. I will say that the two years we made it to the Finals with the Jazz, that was the funnest years I had playing ball.”
Jordan enjoyed a higher peak as a scorer than Abdul-Jabbar, averaging more than 30 points per game for a season eight times. But the Chicago Bulls legend couldn’t match Abdul-Jabbar’s health and longevity; he suffered a foot injury that cost him most of his second season, missed nearly two seasons when he abruptly retired in 1993 and then missed three more seasons when he retired for the second time in 1998. After two forgettable seasons with the Washington Wizards, Jordan retired for the third and final time in 2003 with 32,292 points.
Bryant fell short for similar reasons. Although he entered the NBA as a teenager in 1996, the Lakers icon didn’t crack 20 points per game until his fourth season. He topped that benchmark for 14 straight seasons, but an Achilles’ tear cost him nearly the entire 2013-14 season and dramatically affected his scoring efficiency as he progressed through his mid-30s. Bryant succeeded in passing Jordan, his childhood hero, in 2014 before retiring in 2016 with 33,643 points. He sits in fourth place on the all-time list.
“It’s a huge honor. It’s been such a long journey,” Bryant said in a postgame interview after he passed Jordan. “It’s going by really fast, though. It feels great to be at this point. I try to learn so much from him in particular. He’s been such a huge part of my success and my career, giving me advice and offering mentorship and things like that. That relationship has meant everything to me.”
Two decades of dominance
James has won just one scoring title and played alongside stars on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers, but he has managed to average better than 25 points per game for the past 19 seasons.
James has scored 23,119 points in his 11 seasons in Cleveland, 7,919 points in his four-year stint with Miami and 7,300-plus points and counting during his five campaigns in Los Angeles.
Every NBA regular season game
LeBron James has played
James's single-game career high was 61 points in Miami's win over Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
In his second season, James scored 56 points against Toronto on March 20, 2005
.
James has five games this season with more than 40 points.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2003-04
2009-10
2013-14
2017-18
2022-23
2003-10
Cavaliers
2014-18
Cavaliers
2010-14
Heat
2018-23
Lakers
Points per team
James scored 60.2 percent of his points during his two stints in Cleveland.
Cavaliers
Heat
Lakers
23,119 points
60.2%
7,919
20.6%
7,352
19.2%
Every NBA regular season game
LeBron James has played
James's single-game career high was 61 points in Miami's win over Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
In his second season, James scored 56 points against Toronto on March 20, 2005.
James has five games this season with more than 40 points.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2003-04
2009-10
2013-14
2017-18
2022-23
2003-10
Cleveland
Cavaliers
2014-18
Cleveland
Cavaliers
2010-14
Miami
Heat
2018-23
Los Angeles
Lakers
Points per team
James scored 60.2 percent of his points during his two stints in Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Miami Heat
LA Lakers
23,119 points
60.2%
7,919
20.6%
7,352
19.2%
Every NBA regular season game
LeBron James has played
James's single-game career high was 61 points in Miami's win over Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
In his second season, James scored 56 points against Toronto on March 20, 2005.
James has five games this season with more than 40 points.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2003-04
2009-10
2013-14
2017-18
2022-23
2003-10
Cleveland
Cavaliers
2010-14
Miami
Heat
2014-18
Cleveland
Cavaliers
2018-23
Los Angeles
Lakers
Points per team
James scored 60.2 percent of his points during his two stints in Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Miami Heat
LA Lakers
23,119 points
60.2%
7,919
20.6%
7,352
19.2%
So now that we had compare James with the others we have to admit there will be no comparison with anybody but himself. In the 20 years Lebron James had being playing in the NBA
Every NBA regular season game
LeBron James has played
James's single-game career high was 61 points in Miami's win over Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
In his second season, James scored 56 points against Toronto on March 20, 2005.
James has five games this season with more than 40 points.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2003-04
2009-10
2013-14
2017-18
2022-23
2003-10
Cleveland Cavaliers
2010-14
Miami Heat
2014-18
Cleveland Cavaliers
2018-23
Los Angeles Lakers
Points per team
James scored 60.2 percent of his points during his two stints in Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Miami Heat
Los Angeles Lakers
23,119 points
60.2%
7,919
20.6%
7,352
19.2%
James has enjoyed another edge in his pursuit of the scoring title: the three-point shot. The NBA didn’t incorporate a three-point line until 1979-80 — Abdul-Jabbar’s 11th season — and the 7-foot-2 center made just one three-pointer in his career. The 6-9 James, by contrast, has connected on more than 2,200 three-pointers. Chamberlain, of course, retired well before the three-point era.
Twos, threes and free throws
How the top five scorers in NBA history
got their points.
Three-pointers
Two-pointers
Free throws
K. Abdul-Jabbar 1969-89
L. James 2003-23
K. Malone 1985-2004
K. Bryant 1996-2016
M. Jordan 1984-2003
Twos, threes and free throws
How the top five scorers in NBA history got their points.
Three-pointers
Two-pointers
Free throws
K. Abdul-Jabbar 1969-89
L. James 2003-23
K. Malone 1985-2004
K. Bryant 1996-2016
M. Jordan 1984-2003
Twos, threes and free throws
How the top five scorers in NBA history got their points.
Three-pointers
Two-pointers
Free throws
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1969-89
LeBron James
2003-23
Karl Malone
1985-2004
Kobe Bryant
1996-2016
Michael Jordan
1984-2003
To heights unknown
The possibilities for where James could take this record are mind-blowing. If, for example, James were to play 60 games per season for five more years while maintaining an average of 20 points per game, he could retire in the ballpark of 45,000 points. In that scenario, James would have nearly as big of a lead over Abdul-Jabbar as Abdul-Jabbar has over Chamberlain.
“I’m not going anywhere,” James said in January. “I’m going to be in this league at least a few more years.”
In a recent ESPN interview, James suggested that current players such as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic might one day pass his record. However, Durant, Irving and Embiid are well behind James’s pace because of various injuries, and Antetokounmpo didn’t blossom into an elite scorer until his fourth season.
Seven active players, besides LeBron James, have scored more than 20,000 points in their careers, but they are far from James's record.
LeBron
James
40K points
Kareem
Abdul-
Jabbar
35K
30K
C. Anthony
K. Durant
J. Harden
25K
R. Westbrook
D. DeRozan
C. Paul
20K
S. Curry
G. Antetokounmpo
15K
K. Irving
10K
L. Doncic
J. Embiid
5K
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
Among the players James mentioned as possible successors, Doncic, the youngest, has scored 27.4 points a game in his five seasons in the NBA.
LeBron
James
Seven active players, besides LeBron James, have scored more than 20,000 in their careers, but they are far from James's record.
40K points
Kareem
Abdul-
Jabbar
35K
30K
C. Anthony
K. Durant
J. Harden
25K
R. Westbrook
D. DeRozan
C. Paul
20K
S. Curry
G. Antetokounmpo
15K
K. Irving
10K
L. Doncic
Among the players James mentioned as possible successors, Doncic, the youngest, has scored 27.4 points a game in his five seasons in the NBA.
J. Embiid
5K
0
Age
18
20
25
30
35
40
LeBron James
38,390
Seven active players, besides LeBron James, have scored more than 20,000 in their careers, but they are far from James's record.
40,000 points
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar
38,387
35,000
C. Anthony
28,289
30,000
K. Durant
26,684
J. Harden
24,233
25,000
R. Westbrook
24,125
C. Paul
21,413
S. Curry
21,183
D. DeRozan
21,164
20,000
G. Antetokounmpo
15,706
K. Irving
15,173
15,000
L. Doncic
8,531
10,000
J. Embiid
9,872
Among the players James mentioned as possible successors, Doncic, the youngest, has scored 27.4 points a game in his five seasons in the NBA.
5,000
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
LeBron James
38,390
40,000 points
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar
38,387
Seven active players, besides LeBron James, have scored more than 20,000 in their careers, but they are far from James's record.
35,000
C. Anthony
28,289
30,000
K. Durant
26,684
J. Harden
24,233
25,000
Among the players James mentioned as possible successors, Doncic, the youngest, has scored 27.4 points a game in his five seasons in the NBA.
R. Westbrook
24,125
C. Paul
21,413
D. DeRozan
21,164
S. Curry
21,183
20,000
G. Antetokounmpo
15,706
K. Irving
15,173
15,000
L. Doncic
8,531
10,000
J. Embiid
9,872
5,000
0
Age
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
The closest recent player to James is Carmelo Anthony, a 38-year-old free agent who hasn’t played this season but has yet to announce his retirement. Anthony ranks ninth with 28,289 points and is not a serious threat to James. Durant, 34, is the only other active player among the NBA’s top 25 scorers, ranking 14th with 26,684 points, but his pace has slowed considerably since his 2019 Achilles’ tear.
Doncic, 23, has averaged better than 20 points in each of his first five seasons, but he has said there’s “no way” he will be the all-time scoring leader “because I’m not playing that much.”
If the player who will one day surpass James on the scoring list isn’t currently in the NBA, perhaps history is bound to repeat. Maybe, as with Abdul-Jabbar and James in 1984, the NBA’s next scoring king hasn’t even been born.