LeBron James is now presently the seventh highest scorer in NBA history, passing Shaquille O'Neal on Thursday night with his 28,597th professional point, and counting.
James scored the record basket early halfway through the final quarter of Cleveland's game against the Chicago Bulls, with a free throw for his 28,597th point. The Cavs star entered the night requiring 23 points to tie O'Neal.
O'Neal scored 28,596 points in his 19-year career, while LeBron is in only in his fourteenth season. He achieved this grand level so rapidly by posting the fifth-most highest points per game average in NBA history (least 400 games played), at 27.11.
Will Lebron end up No.1 scoring all time?
Since LeBron James on Thursday night passes Shaquille O'Neal for seventh place on the all-time NBA scoring list, it is an excellent opportunity to consider this: will James, in the end, pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to end up plainly No. 1?
It's exceptionally possible. James, now 32 years of age, could get Abdul-Jabbar on the off chance that he plays at an abnormal level into his late 30s.
Doing as such would imply that he would likewise advance past No. 6 Dirk Nowitzki, No. 5 Wilt Chamberlain, No. 4 Michael Jordan, No. 3. Kobe Bryant and No. 2 Karl Malone.
It will not be an easy task to achieve for Lebron
At age 32, James proceeds on his noteworthy scoring pace, with Dirk Nowitzki next up on the list with 30,181.
Nowitzki, however, remains active. LeBron trails Nowitzki by almost 1,600 points, so he'll need to wait until next season before passing the Big German. The fifth-highest scorer is Wilt Chamberlain, with 31,419.
The all-time NBA points record currently belongs to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 38,387 total points scored.
LeBron has been averaging a little more than 2000 total points per season, so on the off chance that he proceeds at this pace into the back end of his professional career, passing Kareem remains an enormous task.
James started this season twelfth all-time scoring: he has now passed O'Neal, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Oscar Robertson this season.
As for all-time playoffs scoring? LeBron is as of now fourth all time with 5,572 postseason points, trailing Bryant (5,640 postseason points), Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) and Michael Jordan (5,987).
