LeBron James Breaks NBA Record That Stood for Nearly 40 Years

LeBron James has toppled yet another longstanding NBA record.

With James’s third field goal during the Lakers’ matchup with the Nuggets Thursday night, James notched his 15,838th career field goal, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 15,837. Jabbar retired in 1989, so the record has stood for almost 37 years.

LEBRON JAMES.

MOST FIELD GOALS MADE IN NBA HISTORY.

👑 pic.twitter.com/yCj3h4j6rO
— NBA (@NBA) March 6, 2026

The four-time MVP has really already topped that mark, but stats from the NBA in-season tournament (now the NBA Cup) final from 2023 don’t count toward career marks. In that game, he made 10 field goals as part of a 24-point, 11-rebound performance.

The top 10 is an incredible mix of all-time great players. That said, LeBron and Kareem far outpace the competition. The full list is below, with active players bolded.

Players	Field Goals Made
LeBron James	15,838
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	15,837
Karl Malone	13,527
Wilt Chamberlain	12,618
Michael Jordan	12,192
Kobe Bryant	11,719
Shaquille O’Neal	11,330
Dirk Nowitzki	11,169
Kevin Durant	11,067
Elvin Hayes	10,976

Kevin Durant is an interesting case. The 37-year-old missed the entire 2019–20 season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. He likely has a few years left and could move up this list quickly. If he stays relatively healthy, Durant could pass Dirk Nowitzki and Shaquille O’Neal next season, then challenge Kobe Bryan the year after. He’s likely never catching James, though.

NBA career records held by LeBron James

James has made a habit of smashing records over the past few seasons. The 41-year-old now holds a ton of them, which we have noted below, with the marks he had entering Thursday night’s action.

Most regular season points: 43,111
Most minutes played: 60,464
Field goal attempts: 31,274
Playoff games: 292
Playoff minutes played: 12,062
Playoff points: 8,289
Playoff field goals made: 2,971
Playoff steals: 493
Most seasons played: 23
Consecutive games with points: 1,605
Consecutive games with 10+ points: 1,297
Most All-Star selections: 22
Most All-NBA selections: 21
Most first-team All-NBA selections: 13

On top of those, James is among the leaders in a number of other categories. He is:

Third in made free throws (8,819)
Fourth in assists (11,884)
Fourth in player efficiency (26.73)
Fifth in triple-doubles (123)
Sixth in three-pointers made (2,622)
Sixth in steals (2,390)
Seventh in defensive rebounds (10,143)
Eighth in points per game (26.9)
10th in blocks (284)

That is a hefty track record of success for James.

LeBron James’ future with the Lakers

The field goals record could be the last one James breaks in the Laker uniform. The 41-year-old is in the final season of a two-year, $101.4 million deal he agreed to in July of 2024. He’s making $52.6 million this season and will hit free agency once the campaign concludes.

There have been few hints that James is done with the NBA, and he is still a good player. In 43 games entering Thursday night, he’s averaging 21.6 points, 7.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game. He may wish to continue his career.

L.A. has begun re-making its franchise and building around Luka Dončić, and James may not fit into that picture due to his large salary and slowly diminishing ability. He led the Lakers in championship in 2020, but other than that, the team hasn’t reached the finals with him on the roster.

We’ll see what the future holds, but if he is to continue his assault on the NBA’s record books, he may be doing it with a different franchise next season.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as LeBron James Breaks NBA Record That Stood for Nearly 40 Years.

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