On March 20, Beijing time, the Lakers played against the Wizards. In the second quarter of the game, James scored the 21st point of the game, reaching a career total of 36930 points, officially surpassing Carl Malone (36928 points) and rising to the second place in the all-time scoring list. James' next and final catch-up target is Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), who is at the top of the scoring list.
After James entered the top five of the league's scoring list, he has successively surpassed the top stars in recent years. On March 7, 2019, James surpassed Jordan in scoring to rise to fourth place in history; on January 26, 2020, James surpassed Kobe Bryant in scoring and rose to third place in history. Now, he has surpassed Malone and is in second place in history, and he is getting closer and closer to the ceiling of the scoring king.
Against the Wizards, James scored 6 points in the first quarter, and in the second quarter he scored 10 points in a row, sent dunks, and added two three-pointers, James quickly scored 19 points, equaling Malone's record. Soon he scored two more points and finished surpassing!
After beating the Raptors in his last game, James talked about what it means him to surpass Malone. "I know I've said it many times, but that's the truth," James said, "and I feel very humble whenever I connect with great players... Growing up looking at this league, looking at this NBA logo, watching so many great players participate in this game. Being able to hear my name put together with these best players is a real honor for me and my hometown of Akron, Ohio. ”
Next, James's transcendence was left with only Jabbar. Previously, us media calculated that under the premise that James is not lacking, as long as James maintains the performance of averaging more than 23 points per game, he can complete the surpassing of Jabbar in the 2022-23 season, and if the scoring performance is less than 23 points, it will not be surpassed until the 2023-24 season. If you count the number of games that James will miss, then James may have to average 25-27 points per game to ensure that he can finish next season.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned scoring list is the total score of the regular season career, and in terms of the total score of the regular season + playoff career, James is already the first in history, and before the Wizards, James's total score was 44540 points (36909 points in the regular season + 7631 points in the playoffs), and Abdul-Jabbar, who ranked second in history, was 44149 points.
So far this season, James has averaged 29.7 points per game, which is really not easy for a 37-year-old veteran. The US media posted the same 37-year-old season star comparison: James 29.7 points, Malone 23.2 points, Jordan 22.9 points (38 years old), Abdul-Jabbar (22.0 points), Kobe Bryant (17.6 points).