LOS ANGELES — Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been in this rarified air.
On a 20-foot straight-on jumper with 5:43 left in the first quarter, LeBron James became only the second player in NBA history to reach 38,000 points.
HISTORY MADE 👑
— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2023
LeBron James becomes only the second player in NBA history to score 38,000 career points. pic.twitter.com/uqLckZ9LY0
That bucket leaves LeBron just 387 points shy of the once thought unbreakable NBA all-time scoring mark of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. LeBron is on pace to set the record just before the All-Star break in February, but if he misses a couple of back-to-backs — he has had a sore ankle and is 38 — it could come at home against the Warriors in the first game after the break.
Either way, it’s a piece of history.
“I think he’s gonna have the greatest career of all time,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said of LeBron. “I think he’s already had it, you know, and I think Michaels the greatest of all time. But that doesn’t take anything away from LeBron. LeBron has had the greatest career.”