On Tuesday, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers became the NBA all-time leading scorer with 38390 points. Let’s take a look at five fascinating facts surrounding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38387 points.
5) Two different teams under two different names.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name was initially Lew Alcindor, and changed his name on June 3, 1971. Of his 38387 points, 24176 came with the Lakers and 14211 came with the Bucks.
4) One career three-point shot.
Abdul-Jabbar attempted 18 shots from downtown in his career and made one. That came on February 24, 1987 in a 97-93 Lakers win over the Phoenix Suns.
3) Record lasted nearly four decades.
Abdul-Jabbar had the most points in NBA history for 38 years, 10 months and two days. According to ESPN, that was 14187 days. The streak began on April 5, 1984 and ended on February 6, 2023.
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2) Abdul-Jabbar set the record in Las Vegas.
Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most points in the NBA all-time in a 129-115 Lakers road win over the Utah Jazz on April 5, 1984. He finished the night with 31 421 points, two more points than Chamberlain, who had the old record with 31 419 points. However, the game was not played in Salt Lake City. According to Eric Woodyard of Deseret News, the Jazz actually played 11 home games in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center, the home stadium for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The reason why the Jazz had 11 games in the Sin City during the 1983-84 season was because Jazz owner Sam Battistone was trying to make more money.
1) Abdul-Jabbar sets the record with a dunk.
Abdul-Jabbar was known for his signature skyhook, but on this night he passed Chamberlain with a dunk on a pass from James Worthy.
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