LeBron James has surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar's 39-year-old record to become the NBA's all-time top scorer.
James, 38, of the Los Angeles Lakers, scored 38 points in a 133-130 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder to break Abdul-record Jabbar's of 38,387.
Abdul-Jabbar first set the record in April 1984, eight months before James was born.
"To be able to be in the presence of a legend and great as Kareem, it means so much to me," said James.
James broke the record on a fadeaway jumper at the end of the third quarter, and he completed the game with a career total of 38,390.
An emotional James raised both arms in delight, as 75-year-old Abdul-Jabbar stood and applauded on the Lakers' home floor.
There was a brief pause in play for a ceremony to commemorate the accomplishment, with James seizing the microphone and making a speech on the court.
"Everybody that has ever been a part of this run with me the last 20-plus years, I want to say thank you so much because I wouldn’t be me without all you. You all helped. Your passion and sacrifices helped me to get to this point," he said.
"And to the NBA to Adam Silver, to the late great David Stern, thank you very much for allowing me to be a part of something I always dreamed about. I would never in a million years dreamt this to be even better than what it is tonight."
In front of a roaring crowd that included tennis icon John McEnroe, music artists Jay-Z, LL Cool J, and Bad Bunny, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr, and actor Denzel Washington, Abdul-Jabbar ceremoniously handed over the ball to James to recognise his new record.
“I thought it had every chance of being broken. It just had to have someone that the offence focused on continually,” said Abdul-Jabbar, who retired in 1989.
“LeBron’s career is one of someone who planned to dominate this game. You have to give him credit for just the way he played and for the way he’s lasted and dominated.”
James is in his 20th season in the NBA after being picked first overall by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in 2003.
The forward joined the Miami Heat in 2010, earning two championships before returning to help Cleveland to their last NBA victory in 2016.
He has been with the Lakers since 2018 and helped them win the title in 2020, his fourth time being voted NBA Finals MVP.
James, a two-time Olympic winner, earned four regular-season MVP awards and has participated in the NBA Finals ten times.
Abdul-Jabbar played in the NBA for 20 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, winning six titles, six regular season MVP awards, and twice being voted finals MVP.
Asked after the game whether he is the best NBA player of all time, James said: “I’ll let everybody else decide who that is or just talk about it, but it’s great barbershop talk.
“Me personally, I’m going to take myself against anybody who’s ever played this game. But everyone’s going to decide who their favourite is.”
| NBA’s all-time scoring list | ||||
| Player | Pts | Played | Minutes | Pts/game |
| LeBron James | 38,390 | 1,410 | 53,741 | 27.2 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 38,387 | 1,560 | 57,446 | 24.6 |
| Karl Malone | 36,928 | 1,476 | 54,852 | 25.0 |
| Kobe Bryant | 33,643 | 1,346 | 48,643 | 25.0 |
| Michael Jordan | 32,292 | 1,072 | 41,010 | 30.1 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | 1,522 | 51,367 | 20.7 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 31,419 | 1,045 | 47,859 | 30.1 |
| Shaquille O’Neal | 28,596 | 1,207 | 41,917 | 23.7 |
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | 1,260 | 43,513 | 22.5 |
| Moses Malone | 27,409 | 1,329 | 45,071 | 20.6 |
James is the youngest player to reach every important point totalling from 5,000 to 35,000.
In March 2019, he overtook six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan to become fourth all-time, and in January 2020, he passed late Lakers great Kobe Bryant to become third all-time.
In March of last year, James passed Karl Malone for second place overall, a month after breaking Abdul-Jabbar's record for most combined regular season and playoff points. The NBA's official all-time scoring list includes just regular season points.
James, a 19-time All-Star, scored 23,119 points in 849 games for the Cavaliers over two stints spanning 11 seasons.
He scored 7,919 points in 294 games for the Heat over four seasons and currently has 7,314 points in 266 games for the Lakers over five seasons.
In addition to assists, steals, defensive rebounds, field goals made, and three-pointers made, James ranks in the top ten all-time lists.