LeBron James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the highest number of field goals made in NBA history.
DENVER — LeBron James has already achieved the milestone of scoring the most points in NBA history.
Now, the star of the Los Angeles Lakers has also set the record for the most field goals made.
James executed a turnaround baseline jump shot over Denver Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji with 12.3 seconds left in the first quarter on Thursday, marking his third field goal of the game and the 15,838th of his career, thereby surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the highest number of made field goals in NBA history.
He previously overtook Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s all-time leading scorer on February 7, 2023, with a step-back jump shot from the foul line extended, bringing his career points total to 38,388.
He has since increased that total to over 43,000.
“I’m a big Bruce Springsteen fan,” Lakers coach JJ Redick mentioned prior to the game. “I would probably say his early albums really energize me. There’s a youthful spirit to him. And energy. ‘Nebraska’ is actually my all-time favorite album, which is quite different from what he had produced up to that point in his career. You can observe his growth as a singer/songwriter. Then, he releases the greatest hits, and you think, ‘Wow, this is impressive.’ Following that, he comes out with ‘The Rising,’ which is one of the most significant albums of the 2000s. By the end, you realize, ‘Holy s—, this guy’s greatest hits are remarkable.’
“And LeBron’s greatest hits, he continues to expand. He just plays and plays and plays. And the greatest hits are just … he has an incredible catalog.”
Earlier in this season, James moved past Michael Cooper to claim the No. 5 spot on the Lakers’ all-time assists list and joined Kobe Bryant as the only other Laker with 1,000 made 3-point shots.
The next significant statistical achievement for James is Robert Parish’s record of 1,611 games played.
James currently stands at No. 2, with 1,606 games played, and could surpass Parish on March 16 against the Houston Rockets if he participates in every game on the Lakers’ schedule leading up to that date.
