LeBron James and the top 10 scorers in NBA history

LeBron James has officially broken the all-time scoring record in the NBA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has sat atop the mountaintop alone for three decades waiting for someone like LeBron to come along and blow past the record.

Despite being 38 years old and being in his 20th year in the league, LeBron seems to have plenty left in the gas tank and will extend the record far past the current mark held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

LeBron is in truly elite company as he has passed all of the greatest players in NBA history. He is now atop the list, and when his career is all said and done, he will be in a league of his own entirely separate from all of the other legends that have played the game.

LeBron James and the top 10 scorers in NBA history (updated February 7, 2023):

1. LeBron James — 38,390 points
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 38,387 points
3. Karl Malone — 36,928 points
4. Kobe Bryant — 33,643 points
5. Michael Jordan — 32,292 points 
6. Dirk Nowitzki — 31,560 points
7. Wilt Chamberlain — 31,419 points
8. Shaquille O’Neal — 28,596 points
9. Carmelo Anthony — 28,289 points
10. Moses Malone — 27,409 points

LeBron James became the no. 2 all-time scorer in March of 2022 when he passed Karl Malone. He shortly became just the second player in league history to reach 37,000 points later that season.

Perhaps the most astonishing part of this list is how many of these players spent time in the purple and gold. Seven of the top 10 scorers in NBA history spent at least some time with the Lakers, with the top four all suiting up at some point.

But not all of these points came while being a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Even though he will go down as the top scorer in NBA history, LeBron has not yet cracked the list to be one of the top scorers in franchise history.

The top 10 scorers in Lakers history (updated February 7, 2023):

1. Kobe Bryant — 33,643 points
2. Jerry West — 25,192 points
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 24,176 points7
4. Elgin Baylor — 23,149 points
5. Magic Johnson — 17,707 points
6. James Worthy — 16,320 points
7. Shaquille O’Neal — 13,895 points
8. Gail Goodrich — 13,044 points
9. Byron Scott — 12,780 points
10. Jamaal Wilkes — 10,601 points

For what it is worth, LeBron James is still a top 20 scorer in Los Angeles Lakers history. LeBron is less than 3,000 points away from surpassing Wilkes and cracking the top 10, so he absolutely could crack the top-10 list before his career is up.

In terms of active players, LeBron is on a planet completely on his own. The next closest player to LeBron is Kevin Durant, who is quite a ways from James.

The top 10 active scorers in the NBA (updated February 7, 2023):

1. LeBron James — 38,390 points
2. Kevin Durant — 26,684 points
3. James Harden — 24,223 points
4. Russell Westbrook — 24,125 points
5. Chris Paul — 21,413 points 
6. Stephen Curry —21,183 points
7. DeMar DeRozan — 21,164 points
8. Damian Lillard — 18,805 points
9. Rudy Gay — 17,528 points
10. Paul George — 15,967 points

If there is ever a stat to showcase just how high LeBron James is in the NBA stratosphere it is this. The difference between James and the 10th-highest active scorer, Paul George, is over 22,000 points. That difference alone would rank fifth all-time ahead of Chris Paul.