LeBron James Passes Karl Malone for 2nd on NBA’s All-Time Total Points List

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

LeBron James continued to climb up the NBA’s all-time leaderboards with another epic milestone Friday night. 

With his 11th field goal of the night in the third quarter of Game 5 against the Miami Heat, James surpassed Karl Malone for the second-most total points in NBA history. 

James has now scored 41,690 total points between the regular season and playoffs. It took the Los Angeles Lakers star 1,524 games to accomplish the feat. Former Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remains safely in the top spot with 44,151 points, while Malone finished his career with 41,689 points.

Reaching the mark required James to average at least 27.4 points per game throughout his 17-year NBA career. He would need to maintain that average for another 90 games. James has scored at least 1,500 points per regular season each year since he turned pro. 

Given the Lakers expect to contend for another title next season, another deep playoff run could bring him even closer to reaching Abdul-Jabbar’s mark. 

James entered Friday’s game as the league’s leading postseason scorer with 7,423 points in 258 games and second all-time in NBA Finals scoring with 1,494 points. Jerry West leads the latter category with 1,679 points. 

In any case, Lakers fans don’t need to worry about their former players losing a grip on any of the all-time scoring records with James firmly etched in franchise lore.