LeBron James Scoring Tracker: How Close Is He to Kareem Abdul-Jabbars Record?

James is fewer than 200 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbars N.B.A. career scoring record. Abdul-Jabbar set the record before James was born.

Since his early days playing basketball, LeBron James has considered himself more of a passer than a scorer. But he has always been dynamic at the rim, and later in his N.B.A. career he developed a shooting touch that made him even more dangerous offensively.

Twenty years of perfecting exactly how to attack N.B.A. defenses have brought James to the cusp of a historic achievement that had once seemed almost impossible for anyone to reach.

James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, is 178 points away from eclipsing Kareem Abdul-Jabbars career total of 38,387. Abdul-Jabbar has been the N.B.A.s career scoring leader since April 5, 1984 more than eight months before James was born. Abdul-Jabbar played five more seasons for the Lakers after passing Wilt Chamberlain for that title.

As James has approached the record, he has increased his scoring output to 35 points per game in January, up from 28.5 points per game in the seasons first three months. This season and 2021-22 have been two of the highest-scoring of his career. Though it would be difficult, it is possible he could break the record against the Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, one of his favorite arenas. Four games later, the Lakers will host the Milwaukee Bucks in a game between the two N.B.A. teams for which Abdul-Jabbar played.