Lebron James Creates History, Becomes The 2nd Player To Reach 38,000 Career Points
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is undoubtedly one of the greatest players ever to play this beautiful game. He always remains in the news, primarily due to his outstanding
performances, breaking records. This time is no different as he has set his name in the NBA
history book with another remarkable record.
On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers played against the Philadelphia 76ers, where superstar LeBron James eclipsed 38,000 points, becoming only the second player after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to reach these numbers.
The four-time finals MVP reached his 38,000th career point on a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key off an assist from Russell Westbrook in the first quarter with 5:40 remaining. After another heroic performance, James has 38,024 career points, 363 points behind Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar 38,387.
LeBron James talked about his achievement at Media day:
"To sit here and know that I'm on the verge of breaking probably the most sought-after record in the NBA, things that people said would probably never be done, I think it's just super humbling for myself. I think it's super cool. Kareem has had his differences with some of my views and things that I do."Â
"But at the end of the day, to be able to be in the same breath as a guy that wore this same uniform, a guy that was a staple of this franchise, along with Magic Johnson, Big Game over there for so many years, especially in the 80s, and a guy that does a lot off the floor as well, I think is just super-duper dope, for myself to even be in that conversation."
In an interview with ESPN, LeBron said:
"I don't know because I have not set out to do that. It wasn't a goal of mine when I entered the league."
"Making All-Star team, being Rookie of the Year, being First Team All-NBA, First Team All-
Defense, winning a championship for sure, and being MVP of the league were goals."
"The scoring record was never even thought of in my head because I've always been a pass-first guy. I've always loved the excitement of seeing the success of my teammates."
The list of all-time scoring leaders
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points)
2. LeBron James (38,024)
3. Karl Malone (36,928)
4. Kobe Bryant (33,643)
5. Michael Jordan (32,292)
6. Dirk Nowitzki (31,560)
7. Wilt Chamberlain (31,419)
8. Shaquille O'Neal (28,596)
9. Carmelo Anthony (28,289)
10. Moses Malone (27,409)
With achieving these numbers, James retained an impressive record of being the youngest player to reach every thousand point landmark from 1,000 to 38,000 points.
Many former and current NBA players congratulated LeBron on his achievement, including
former Lakers player Magic Johnson, the Lakers legend who played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, wrote on his social media account:
"I never thought I'd see another NBA player score 38,000 points in my lifetime."
James was averaging 29 points per game before this game. And if he keeps his current scoring rate, we can see him breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record in 13 more games.
With that said, barring any major injury issues, he will be the player with the most career points in NBA history next month.
However, his primary focus is undoubtedly on winning the fifth championship ring, with more
hard work required by other players following their 19-23 record.