LeBron James becomes third player in NBA history with 1,000 career 20-point games

Scott Rafferty

LeBron James becomes third player in NBA history with 1,000 career 20-point games image

LeBron James continues to make history.

On Saturday, the 15-time All-Star scored 25 points in a win over the Miami Heat. It marked the 1,000th time in his NBA career that James has scored at least 20 points in a regular season game.

With that, James became only the third player in NBA history to have 1,000 such games.

According to Basketball Reference, the only other players in NBA history with 900 or more 20-point games are Kobe Bryant (941) and Michael Jordan (926). Dirk Nowitzki (861), Shaquille O'Neal (826), Wilt Chamberlain (771), Dominique Wilkins (756) and Oscar Robertson (754) round out the top-10.

The most 20-point games in NBA history
Rk Player Count
1 Karl Malone 1134
2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1122
3 LeBron James 1000
4 Kobe Bryant 941
5 Michael Jordan 926
6 Dirk Nowitzki 861
7 Shaquille O'Neal 826
8 Wilt Chamberlain 771
9 Dominique Wilkins 756
10 Oscar Robertson 754

James is also making his way up another scoring list. Following Saturday's performance, he now trails Bryant by 892 points for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Once again, Malone and Abdul-Jabbar are at the top of that list.

At his current pace, James will pass Bryant in scoring in 35 games.

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Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.