NBA: LeBron James breaks NBA record for most combined points in regular season and playoffs
LeBron James became the leading NBA scorer in combined regular season and play-off history in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-115 defeat by the Golden State Warriors.
Entering the game Saturday night against Golden State, James needed 19 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar. King James scored 18 points in the first half and in the second half, his first shot was a 3-pointer to get to 44,152 points between the regular season and playoffs.
He scored 26 points to take his career tally to 44,157, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 44,149.
However, James missed a last-second free throw that would have won the game for the Lakers in San Francisco.
Klay Thompson scored a season-high 33 points for the Warriors.
With 36,526 points, James remains behind Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928) on the regular-season points list.
“In all my career, any time I’ve been linked with some of the greats, I’ve always just been in awe,” said 37-year-old James, who has scored at least 25 points in his past 22 games.
Widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, James has won four NBA Championships, four NBA MVP awards, four NBA Finals MVP awards and two Olympic gold medals with the United States.
In 2017, James passed Michael Jordan for the number one spot on the all-time postseason scoring list, but he’s still third when it comes to regular season scoring. LBJ is now less than 500 points away from overtaking Karl Malone at second and less than 2,000 points from passing Abdul-Jabbar as the number one regular season scorer in NBA history.
Currently, James is averaging 29 points per game, the most by any player ever in year 19. At this rate, James should become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in both the regular season and playoffs by the end of next season.