LeBron James Holds the NBA Career Scoring Record with 43,522 Points

LeBron James holds the NBA’s all-time career scoring record with 43,522 regular-season points, as of October 31, 2026. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is second with 38,387, putting James 5,135 points ahead. These are cumulative career totals—not single-game records or points-per-game averages. Source: NBA all-time leaders.

The standard NBA career scoring record counts regular-season points only. Playoff scoring is tracked separately, so a figure that combines the two is answering a different question. Source: NBC News.

NBA career scoring leaders

The top 10 below use NBA regular-season totals as of October 31, 2026. Games played help show the opportunity behind each total.

Source: NBA’s official career leaderboard. Active players’ totals can change after each regular-season appearance.

When did LeBron break Kareem’s record?

James passed Abdul-Jabbar on February 7, 2023, while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He entered the game needing 36 points to move beyond Kareem’s 38,387.

A turnaround jumper with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter gave James his 36th point of the night and 38,388th career point. He finished with 38 points, bringing his career total to 38,390. The record-breaking total and his end-of-game total therefore differ by two points. Sources: NBA’s account and NBC News’ contemporaneous report.

Kareem had taken the lead from Wilt Chamberlain on April 5, 1984, then continued adding points until retiring in 1989. His final 38,387 stood as the target James eventually passed. Source: NBC News.

The shots behind 43,522 points

Career scoring adds the value of every made basket and free throw. Using James’ official career totals, his record breaks down into:

• 13,351 two-point baskets: 26,702 points.
• 2,641 three-point baskets: 7,923 points.
• 8,897 made free throws: 8,897 points.

Together, 26,702 + 7,923 + 8,897 = 43,522. The two-point makes are calculated by subtracting his 2,641 threes from his 15,992 total field goals made. Source for the underlying totals: NBA Stats.

This also shows why career points are not a shooting-efficiency measure: the total rewards made shots without deducting missed attempts. Accuracy matters, but so do shot volume, minutes, scoring role and availability.

Era matters when interpreting the ranking, too. Kareem made just one NBA three-pointer; James has made 2,641. Their scoring totals came from very different shot mixes. Source: NBA Stats. Differences in pace also affect how many possessions are available, while a player’s role affects how many of those possessions become his shots.

Longevity is equally important. Dividing the listed points by games gives James roughly 26.75 points per game, compared with Jordan’s 30.12. Jordan scored more per appearance, but James accumulated more points across far more games. Those are different achievements; the career-total ranking is not a ranking of peak scoring ability.

What about playoff and combined points?

James also leads the NBA’s separate career playoff scoring list with 8,521 points, ahead of Jordan’s 5,987, as of October 31, 2026. Source: NBA playoff leaders.

Adding James’ regular-season and playoff totals gives 52,043 combined points. That calculation is useful when explicitly discussing both competitions, but it should not replace his 43,522-point regular-season record.

For records over shorter spans, see the NBA single-game scoring record or the most points in an NBA season.