LeBron James points tracker: NBA's all-time top scorer surpasses 49,000 career points
Team USA's three-time Olympic gold medallist is setting new milestones as he passes 49,000 points in all NBA play, having broken the career regular season record previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Basketball
Basketball hero LeBron James is the NBA's all-time top scorer, but he isn't finished yet.
The Los Angeles Lakers star, who turns 40 on 30 December 2024, overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in career points during a memorable game on 7 February 2023, scoring 38 to give himself a total of 38,390 regular season points, in a 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Abdul-Jabbar had held the record with 38,387 points in regular season games.
Four-time Team USA Olympian and three-time Olympic champion LeBron has since continued to extend his record. He moved on to 38,652 regular season points at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, surpassed the 39,000 mark early in the 2023/24 campaign, and progressed beyond 40,000 on 2 March 2024 in a defeat to the reigning champion Denver Nuggets, taking his total tally beyond 48,000 career points between the regular season and playoffs.
The 2023/24 season also saw him become the first man to lift the NBA Cup, after his Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in the final of the NBA In-Season Tournament on 9 December 2023. He ended the 2023/24 campaign with 40,474 regular season points, as the LA Lakers again made it to the NBA Playoffs, before moving past 40,500 early in the 2024/25 campaign.
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Kevin Durant is the only other active player in the top 10.
Durant sits above fellow Olympic gold medallists Carmelo Anthony and Shaquille O'Neal on the all-time list, but he has a long way to go to reach Wilt Chamberlain in seventh place, according to the NBA.
LeBron James also holds the record for playoff points. He surpassed 8,000 in the 2022/2023 season, and has 8,162 points from playoff games after the 2023/24 campaign.
Retired great Michael Jordan is second on the playoff points list with 5,987.
The 2023/24 season saw another first - LeBron playing in the NBA's new Play-In Tournament, after the regular season, with the final Playoff berths on offer. LeBron scored 23 points in his only play-in appearance, taking him past the 48,500 mark overall in the NBA.
LeBron holds four Olympic medals, three of them gold, from his four Games appearances. He was part of the Team USA rosters who won the men's basketball title at Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Paris 2024, and took bronze at Athens 2004. He has scored a total of 358 points from his four Olympic editions (214 in group games, 144 in knockout matchups).
In a sport where discussion rages as to who is the greatest of all time - with Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and Larry Bird all in the mix, LeBron James has shown throughout his career why he should be considered the GOAT of the men's game.
NBA’s All-time scoring lists: Top 10
LeBron James: Career records and stats
- NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004
- Four-time NBA Champion: 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
- Four-time NBA Finals MVP: 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020
- Four-time NBA MVP: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
- 18-time NBA All-Star selection: 2005-2022
- Three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008, 2018
- Four-time Olympic medallist (gold: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Paris 2024; bronze: Athens 2004)
- FIBA World Cup medallist (bronze: 2006)
- Only player in NBA history to have at least 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists
- Only player in NBA history to score 10 points or more in 1,000 consecutive games
- First player to pass 39,000 and 40,000 regular season points in the NBA.
- First man to pass 6,000, 7,000, and 8,000 NBA playoff points.