LeBron James has hit a scoring milestone reached by just one other player in NBA history: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
James continued his pursuit of Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record on Sunday by scoring the 38,000th point of his career on Sunday during the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers.
James reached the milestone by hitting a straightaway jumper that brought him to 38,001 career points.
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James entered Sunday’s game needing 11 points to reach the milestone. He scored 12 points midway through the first, hitting the jumper with 5:41 left in the quarter. James sits less than 400 points behind the all-time record held by Abdul-Jabbar, who has long maintained the league-career scoring record with 38,387 points.
James and Abdul-Jabbar are two of seven players in league history to eclipse 30,000 career points. They are joined by Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419).
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The 38-year-old James, in his 20th NBA season, entered Sunday's contest averaging 29 points per game.
Barring injury, James is projected to break the NBA scoring record in February. Abdul-Jabbar has held the record since 1984 when he scored the 31,420th point of his career to pass then-record-holder Chamberlain.
