LeBron James added another record to his long list of achievements last night and admitted it was “pretty cool” to have become the player with the most field goals in NBA history.
James sank the 15,838th basket of his remarkable career during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-113 defeat to the Denver Nuggets with the landmark moment coming in the dying seconds of the first quarter.
It moved him out of a tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who he also surpassed to become the leading scorer in NBA history in 2023.
“Just to be able to link my name to being mentioned with some of the greatest to ever play this game has always been humbling and a pretty cool thing,” James said. “I grew up watching, reading [about], idolising a lot of the greats, and if I ever was able to be part of the NBA, I wanted to put myself in position that I can be named with some of the greats by doing something right. So, it’s pretty cool.
“Obviously it’s a pretty cool feat, but it’s hard for me to kind of wrap my head around it or what it looks like. It’s something that I never had a goal to have that record. I came into this league understanding that I had to start from scratch. As the No. 1 player in the country, I had to start from scratch and get myself up that plateau of being the No. 1 player in the world again. So that was my only mindset.
“I don’t know how many players have played in the NBA, but it’s the greatest players in the world. And for my name to be mentioned with the greats and be at the top of it is awesome.”
LeBron James’ has a greatest hits collection to rival Bruce Springsteen – Redick
Lakers coach JJ Redick compared the 41-year-old to veteran US musician Bruce Springsteen.
“I’m a big Bruce Springsteen fan,” Redick said. “I would probably say his early albums really get me going. There’s a youthfulness to him. And energy. ‘Nebraska’ is actually my favourite album of all time, and that’s like very different for what he had done that far in his career. And then, you can see the evolution of him as a singer/songwriter. And then, he comes out with the greatest hits, and you’re like, ‘Wow, this is pretty good.’ And then after that, he comes out with ‘The Rising,’ which is one of the most important albums of the 2000s. So, you get to the end and you’re like, ‘Holy s— this guy’s greatest hits are like insane.
“And LeBron’s greatest hits, he just keeps adding to them. He just plays and plays and plays. And the greatest hits are just … he’s got a hell of a catalogue.”
James has another record in his sights. Thursday’s game, in which he finished with 16 points, was his 1,606th in the regular season, putting him five behind Robert Parish for the most in history.
The top 10 players with the most field goals in NBA history
| Rank | Player | Field Goals Made |
| 1 | LeBron James | 15,482 |
| 2 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 15,837 |
| 3 | Karl Malone | 13,528 |
| 4 | Wilt Chamberlain | 12,681 |
| 5 | Michael Jordan | 12,192 |
| 6 | Julius Erving | 11,818 |
| 7 | Kobe Bryant | 11,719 |
| 8 | Shaquille O’Neal | 11,330 |
| 9 | Dirk Nowitzki | 11,169 |
| L | Kevin Durant | 11,075 |
