LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Saturday night for the top spot on the NBA's all-time leading scoring list for regular season and playoffs combined, but that is different than being the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
The NBA's all-time record books are regular season statistics only, so James is still a season away from passing Abdul-Jabbar as the league's all-time points leader.
However, when you take playoff scoring into account, James (44,131 total points) needed just 19 points from Abdul-Jabbar (44,149 total points) heading into Saturday's game and tallying the most combined points in NBA history.
James passed Abdul-Jabbar halfway through the third period when he drained a long three.
LeBron James has now scored more points than any other player in league history between the regular season and playoffs combined. The record-setting bucket: pic.twitter.com/o43WjumoPP
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 13, 2022
How many games will it now take James to pass Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer (regular season only)?
We have tables for both milestones below, along with a quick projection on when James may break the regular-season record.
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NBA's combined all-time scoring list (regular season and playoffs)
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 44,149 |
| 2. | LeBron James | 44,131* |
| 3. | Karl Malone | 41,689 |
| 4. | Kobe Bryant | 39,283 |
| 5. | Michael Jordan | 38,279 |
| 6. | Dirk Nowitzki | 35,223 |
| 7. | Wilt Chamberlain | 35,026 |
| 8. | Shaquille O'Neal | 33,846 |
| 9. | Tim Duncan | 31,668 |
| 10. | Hakeem Olajuwon | 30,701 |
*Updated prior to Saturday's Lakers-Warriors game.
NBA's all-time scoring list (regular season only)
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 38,387 |
| 2. | Karl Malone | 36,928 |
| 3. | LeBron James | 36,500* |
| 4. | Kobe Bryant | 33,643 |
| 5. | Micahel Jordan | 32,292 |
| 6. | Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 |
| 7. | Wilt Chamberlain | 31,419 |
| 8. | Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 |
| 9. | Carmelo Anthony | 28,042 |
| 10. | Moses Malone | 27,409 |
*Updated prior to Saturday's Lakers-Warriors game.
Prior to the Warriors game James was only 429 points away from passing Malone for second on the NBA's all-time leading scorers list. At his current pace this season, 29.1 points per game, James will only need approximately 15 more games to tally 489 points, meaning he should catch Malone this season.
As for Abdul-Jabbar and the top spot, he still has a ways to go. LeBron is still 1,887 points away from passing Kareem, meaning he'll need at least another season to make that leap.
While James has defied Father Time to this point in his career, any sign of slowing down could alter the course of when he becomes the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Right now, he is on pace to score roughly 800 more points this season, which would put him just over 1,100 away from passing Abdul-Jabbar.
Even during a 2020-21 season where he only played 45 games, James still tallied 1,126 points. That was by far the fewest amount of total points he has scored in a season in his career, and based on averages, that number would almost be enough to pass Abdul-Jabbar next season.
All of this to say, it's a safe bet that James becomes the NBA's all-time leading scorer at some point during the 2022-23 NBA season.
