LeBron James became the NBA’s first 40,000-point scorer last season, but among the milestones he will reach this season is a less distinguished institution. The Los Angeles Lakers legend will set the record for most career missed field goals, and he is on pace to become the first player ever to miss 15,000 shots.
James’ sixth miss of the season will break Kobe Bryant’s record of 14,481. Bryant ranks fourth in points but first in misses. James will be the all-time leader in both as soon as opening night, when L.A. hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, by contrast, ranks second in points and eighth in misses.
|
CAREER |
POINTS |
FG |
FGA |
FG% |
eFG%* |
|
LeBron James |
40,074 |
14,837 |
29,313 |
50.6 |
54.7 |
|
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
38,387 |
15,837 |
28,307 |
55.9 |
56.0 |
|
Karl Malone |
36,928 |
13,528 |
26,210 |
51.6 |
51.8 |
|
Kobe Bryant |
33,643 |
11,719 |
26,200 |
44.7 |
48.2 |
|
Michael Jordan |
32,292 |
12,192 |
24,537 |
49.7 |
50.9 |
*eFG%: Effective Field-Goal Percentage. Adjusted for 3-point attempts. ((FGM + (0.5 * 3PM)) / FGA
All things are not equal. Malone benefited from attempting 1,326 more free throws than anyone else. James plays at the peak of the 3-point boon. Abdul-Jabbar scored the vast majority of his points within eight feet of the basket. All great scorers, all different skills and all but impossible to compare across eras.
The takeaway? Though James will eclipse Bryant for the NBA’s most misses ever, he remains the superior scorer both by volume and efficiency. Still, James would surely prefer to celebrate his other milestones.
Speaking of which, James needs …
-
850 minutes to pass Abdul-Jabbar for the most in a career.
-
68 games played to catch Abdul-Jabbar for second behind Robert Parish.
-
423 rebounds to pass Patrick Ewing for 25th.
That’s right. By season’s end, James will likely have played more minutes than anyone ever — almost 1,000 hours — while ranking first in career points, fourth in assists and top-25 in rebounds. Abdul-Jabbar is the only other player to rank in the top 50 of all three categories. Kevin Garnett is the next closest.
In case you didn’t know by now. LeBron James is good at basketball. These guys are, too …
Chris Paul is coming for Jason Kidd
Chris Paul, who will ply his trade for the San Antonio Spurs this season, is set to usurp Jason Kidd for second behind John Stockton in career assists and steals. Paul trails Kidd by 198 assists and 71 steals.
|
CAREER |
ASSISTS |
STEALS |
|
John Stockton |
15,806 |
3,265 |
|
Jason Kidd |
12,091 |
2,684 |
|
Chris Paul |
11,894 |
2,614 |
Paul, who, like James, will turn 40 years old before this NBA calendar year ends, registered 393 assists and 70 steals in 58 appearances last season, playing mostly reserve minutes. He will likely start in San Antonio.
How much distance did Stockton put between himself and the field in both categories? Paul would have to replicate last season’s statistics for another 10 seasons to have any hope of eclipsing either record.
Kevin Durant and the NBA’s forthcoming scoring milestones
Durant needs 1,076 points to join James, Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain as the eighth member of the 30,000-point club. He scored 2,032 points last season.
With repeat performances of last season, Stephen Curry (23,668) and DeMar DeRozan (23,582) will become the 26th and 27th members of the 25,000-point club, and Giannis Antetokounmpo (18,502) would be the 52nd player to score 20,000 points — an almost automatic entry into the Hall of Fame.
Paul George (18,032) also has an outside shot to reach 20,000 points this season.
Potential additions this season to the 15,000-point club: Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, Devin Booker, CJ McCollum, Nikola Jokić and Kawhi Leonard. Booker was the seventh-youngest player to reach 10,000.
The order atop the NBA’s career scoring list will not change much, given how high James and Durant have already ascended, though James Harden (25,885) could climb as high as 13th, passing Garnett, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson and Hakeem Olajuwon (26,668).
Reshuffling the all-time 3-point list behind Stephen Curry
Curry is the NBA’s 3-point king. The 3,747 he has made in his career are 774 more than Ray Allen, the previous record-holder, and this season he should become the first player ever to make 4,000 triples.
The top 10 behind Curry, however, will be entirely reshuffled. Here is what it looks like now:
|
CAREER |
3-POINTERS |
|
Stephen Curry |
3,747 |
|
Ray Allen |
2,973 |
|
James Harden |
2,940 |
|
Damian Lillard |
2,607 |
|
Reggie Miller |
2,560 |
|
Klay Thompson |
2,481 |
|
Kyle Korver |
2,450 |
|
LeBron James |
2,410 |
|
Vince Carter |
2,290 |
|
Jason Terry |
2,282 |
And here is what it will look like at season’s end if everyone repeat’s last season’s performance:
|
PROJECTED |
3-POINTERS |
|
Stephen Curry |
4,104 |
|
James Harden |
3,126 |
|
Ray Allen |
2,973 |
|
Damian Lillard |
2,827 |
|
Klay Thompson |
2,749 |
|
Reggie Miller |
2,560 |
|
LeBron James |
2,559 |
|
Kyle Korver |
2,450 |
|
Paul George |
2,496 |
|
Vince Carter |
2,290 |
More milestones
Also …
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Jokić (130) needs nine triple-doubles to pass Magic Johnson (138) for the third-most in history behind Russell Westbrook (199) and Robertson (181). Jokić has played 675 games to Johnson’s 906.
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Westbrook needs 532 assists to reach 10,000 for his career. He last registered that many assists in a season in 2022-23. James is the only other player to log 25,000 points and 10,000 assists in a career.
-
Nikola Vučević needs 565 rebounds to reach 10,000. He would become only the 28th player ever to register 15,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in a career. Dwight Howard was last to hit both marks.
-
Brook Lopez needs 88 blocks to become the first player since Howard — and 20th player ever — to record 2,000.