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LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most field goals scored in NBA history as the Los Angeles Lakers lost at the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.<\/b><\/p>\n
James scored 16 points for the Lakers in the 120-113 defeat and passed Abdul-Jabbar’s tally of 15,837 during the first quarter.<\/p>\n
The 41-year-old, who is playing in an unprecedented 23rd NBA season, passed Abdul-Jabbar to become the top scorer in NBA history<\/a> in February 2023.<\/p>\n Last year he became the first player to reach 50,000 points combined<\/a> in the regular season and post-season, and currently has 43,127 in the regular season alone.<\/p>\n “Being mentioned with some of the greatest to ever play this game has always been humbling,” said James, the league’s four-time Most Valuable Player.<\/p>\n “I grew up watching, reading [about], idolising a lot of the greats, and if I was able to be part of the NBA, I wanted to put myself in position that I can be named with some of the greats by doing something right.<\/p>\n “It’s a pretty cool feat, but it’s hard for me to kind of wrap my head around it or what it looks like.”<\/p>\n Lakers coach JJ Redick likened the evolution of James’ career to that of Bruce Springsteen, saying: “You get to the end and you’re like, ‘this guy’s greatest hits are like insane’.<\/p>\n “And LeBron’s greatest hits, he just keeps adding to them. He just plays and plays and plays and the greatest hits, he’s got a hell of a catalogue.”<\/p>\n James passed Abdul-Jabbar’s points record before field goals as three-point shots were introduced midway through the NBA legend’s career.<\/p>\n The six-time champion spent most of his 20-year career with the Lakers and retired in 1989 having scored 55.9% of his 28,307 shots. James has a 51.6% scoring rate.<\/p>\n The four-time champion is set to claim another record as Thursday’s game was his 1,606th in the regular season, putting him five behind Robert Parish.<\/p>\n