LeBron James has nearly reached the mountaintop.
Heading into the Lakers' matchup with the Thunder on Tuesday night, James is only 36 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Abdul-Jabbar has held the record for more than three decades. Now, James will likely stand at No. 1 on the list for several years because he will only keep adding to his total.
The All-Star forward's latest accomplishment will serve as another reminder of how James and Abdul-Jabbar managed to put together two of the greatest careers in sports history.
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LeBron vs. Kareem: Their first points
James and Abdul-Jabbar scored their first NBA points from similar spots on the floor.
Abdul-Jabbar banked in an off-balance midrange attempt, and James hit a pull-up jumper along the baseline.
LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar each opened their NBA careers with makes! #NBAVault
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) February 4, 2023
63 points from passing Kareem's all-time scoring record, watch @KingJames close in on history tonight at 6pm/et on ESPN 2. pic.twitter.com/hBcZpgIuGp
Abdul-Jabbar finished with 29 points in the Bucks' win over the Pistons. James scored 25 points in the Cavaliers' loss to the Kings.
LeBron vs. Kareem: Their signature shots
Abdul-Jabbar dominated his opponents with the most unstoppable weapon the league has ever seen: the skyhook.
"If you can effectively deliver with that kind of shot, you can be a consistent player in this league," Abdul-Jabbar said. "I got to be the highest scorer in NBA history because I used that shot."
While he doesn't possess a move quite as iconic as the skyhook, James believes that his "tomahawk dunk in transition" will go down as his signature shot.
"Even one of my teammates now today, Lonnie Walker, always talks about the LeBron signature tomahawk dunk, and that's been pretty cool," James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
LeBron vs. Kareem: Season-by-season breakdown
Abdul-Jabbar hit the ground running after being selected by the Bucks with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1969 NBA Draft. He led the league in total points in each of his first three seasons (1969-70, 1970-71 and 1971-72).
Those are also the three highest-scoring seasons of Abdul-Jabbar's career.
| Season | Points per game | Total points |
| 1969-70 | 28.8 | 2,361 |
| 1970-71 | 31.7 | 2,596 |
| 1971-72 | 34.8 | 2,822 |
| 1972-73 | 30.2 | 2,292 |
| 1973-74 | 27.0 | 2,191 |
| 1974-75 | 30.0 | 1,949 |
| 1975-76 | 27.7 | 2,275 |
| 1976-77 | 26.2 | 2,152 |
| 1977-78 | 25.8 | 1,600 |
| 1978-79 | 23.8 | 1,903 |
| 1979-80 | 24.8 | 2,034 |
| 1980-81 | 26.2 | 2,095 |
| 1981-82 | 23.9 | 1,818 |
| 1982-83 | 21.8 | 1,722 |
| 1983-84 | 21.5 | 1,717 |
| 1984-85 | 22.0 | 1,735 |
| 1985-86 | 23.4 | 1,846 |
| 1986-87 | 17.5 | 1,366 |
| 1987-88 | 14.6 | 1,165 |
| 1988-89 | 10.1 | 748 |
| Career | 24.6 | 38,387 |
After averaging 20.9 points per game as a rookie with the Cavaliers in 2003-04, James has posted at least 25 points per game in every other season of his career.
He won the scoring title in 2007-08 when he averaged 30 points per game.
| Season | Points per game | Total points |
| 2003-04 | 20.9 | 1,654 |
| 2004-05 | 27.2 | 2,175 |
| 2005-06 | 31.4 | 2,478 |
| 2006-07 | 27.3 | 2,132 |
| 2007-08 | 30.0 | 2,250 |
| 2008-09 | 28.4 | 2,304 |
| 2009-10 | 29.7 | 2,258 |
| 2010-11 | 26.7 | 2,111 |
| 2011-12 | 27.1 | 1,683 |
| 2012-13 | 26.8 | 2,036 |
| 2013-14 | 27.1 | 2,089 |
| 2014-15 | 25.3 | 1,743 |
| 2015-16 | 25.3 | 1,920 |
| 2016-17 | 26.4 | 1,954 |
| 2017-18 | 27.5 | 2,251 |
| 2018-19 | 27.4 | 1,505 |
| 2019-20 | 25.3 | 1,698 |
| 2020-21 | 25.0 | 1,126 |
| 2021-22 | 30.3 | 1,695 |
| 2022-23 | 30.0 | 1,290 |
| Career | 27.2 | 38,325 |
LeBron vs. Kareem: Team-by-team breakdown
James racked up more than 60 percent of his career points during two different stints with the Cavaliers. He was most efficient as a member of the Heat, shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from 3-point range.
| Team (Seasons) | Points per game | Total points |
| Cavaliers (11) | 27.2 | 23,119 |
| Heat (4) | 26.9 | 7,919 |
| Lakers (5) | 27.5 | 7,314 |
Abdul-Jabbar did most of his damage with the Lakers, pouring in more than 24,000 points in a purple and gold uniform across 14 seasons. His field goal and free throw percentages improved after he was traded from Milwaukee to Los Angeles.
| Team (Seasons) | Points per game | Total points |
| Lakers (14) | 22.1 | 24,176 |
| Bucks (6) | 30.4 | 14,211 |
LeBron vs. Kareem: When they landed at No. 1
On April 5, 1984, Abdul-Jabbar jumped ahead of Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time scoring list with, of course, a skyhook.
How will James pass Abdul-Jabbar? Could he pull out the skyhook when he is one bucket away from making history?
Probably not.
"I've toyed with it more recently than I did when I was a kid. ... I never toyed around with the skyhook unless you're playing a game of HORSE," James told ESPN's Michael Wilbon. "You're playing a game of HORSE, you mess around, see if you can get one not thinking that your friend would be able to make it, or things of that nature.
"But I never put it into the lab."
Imagine LeBron breaks Kareem’s record with a skyhook 🤣 (h/t hoopsnation/TT) pic.twitter.com/sj3SfDOx72
— Overtime (@overtime) December 30, 2022
