James hit a turnaround 12-foot jumper over Zeke Nnaji with 12 seconds left in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s mark.
“My name being mentioned with some of the greatest to ever play this game has always been humbling and pretty cool,” James said. “It’s a pretty cool thing. I grew up watching and reading, idolizing a lot of the greats. And if I ever was able to be a part of the NBA, I wanted to be in position where I could be named with some of the greats by doing something right.”
The record-breaking bucket gave James 15,838 career field goals in his unprecedented 23rd NBA season. Abdul-Jabbar had 15,837 baskets when the skyhook-wielding big man ended his 20-year career in 1989 as the NBA’s career scoring leader. Karl Malone is a distant third with 13,528 field goals.