Basketball star LeBron James has now scored more points than any other NBA player in history, surpassing fellow Los Angeles Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s total 38,387 points on Tuesday night.
Since Abdul-Jabbar passed Wilt Chamberlain’s 31,419 points on April 5, 1984, no new name has topped the NBA’s all-time point standings.
LeBron was born nearly nine months after Abdul-Jabbar broke Chamberlain’s record. By using his skyhook, Abdul-Jabbar continued to rack up points until he retired in 1989 at the age of 42
A historic record: James, who is now 38 years old, broke the record late in the third quarter when he scored his 36th point against the Oklahoma City Thunder on a fadeaway jumper.
Along with countless other celebrities, Abdul-Jabbar was present to witness the achievement. James and Abdul-Jabbar were holding hands during an on-court ceremony that the NBA called off. James spoke to the crowd while visibly upset about what he’d just done.
In the middle of his 20th NBA season, James broke the record that had stood for almost 39 years. James has a career scoring average of 27.2 points and a field goal percentage of 50.5%.
A grateful LeBron: Standing at centre court after the feat, James thanked current NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and his late predecessor David Stern.
- “I thank you guys for allowing me to be a part of something I’ve always dreamed about and I would never, ever in a million years dreamed this even better than what it is tonight,” James said.
According to calculations by Bloomberg, James will have received about $10,941 for each career point he has scored as he breaks the record. He is halfway through his 20th season and has earned a total NBA salary of about $420 million.
