LeBron bests Kareem for most made FG in history

DENVER -- LeBron James already had scored the most points in NBA history.

Now, the Los Angeles Lakers' star has made the most baskets, too.

James hit a turnaround baseline jump shot over Denver Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji with 12.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter of Thursday's 120-113 loss for his third made field goal of the game and 15,838th of his career, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most made field goals in NBA history.

"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 after the game. "I grew up watching, reading [about], idolizing 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."

James said the turnaround fadeaway shot was something he worked to add to his game after he struggled in the Miami Heat's loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.

"I mean, it's one of my patented shots," James said. "It's something I've worked on throughout my career. So, to be able to have that ability to make that shot is pretty cool."

James already surpassed Abdul-Jabbar as the league's all-time leading scorer Feb. 7, 2023, with a step-back jump shot from the foul line extended, giving him 38,388 career points.

He has pushed that point total north of 43,000.

James finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

"I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan," Lakers coach JJ Redick said before the loss. "I would probably say his early albums really get me going. There's a youthfulness to him. And energy. 'Nebraska' is actually my favorite 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 catalog."

Earlier this season, James passed Michael Cooper for No. 5 on the Lakers' all-time assists list and joined Kobe Bryant as the only other Laker with 1,000 made 3-point shots.

The next major statistical milestone for James is Robert Parish's record of 1,611 games played.

James is No. 2, with 1,606 and could pass Parish on March 16 against the Houston Rockets if he plays every game on the Lakers' upcoming schedule up until then.

"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," James said about his field goal accomplishment. "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."

James added: "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."