I’ve done some research on career NBA points leaders for an article I’ll post at the end of the season. But I wanted to point out a milestone LeBron James hit a couple of nights ago.
Here are the NBA leaders in points through each “Age x” Season:
Age Player Points 18 Kobe Bryant 539 19 Kobe Bryant 1759 20 LeBron James 3829 21 LeBron James 6307 22 LeBron James 8439 23 LeBron James 10689 24 LeBron James 12993 25 LeBron James 15251 26 LeBron James 17362 27 LeBron James 19045 28 LeBron James 21081 29 LeBron James 23170 30 LeBron James 24913 31 LeBron James 26833 32 LeBron James 28787 33 LeBron James 29492 (current season) 34 Kobe Bryant 31617 35 Kobe Bryant 31700 (Achilles injury) 36 Kobe Bryant 32482 37 Kobe Bryant 33643 (final season) 38 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35108 39 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 36474 40 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 37639 41 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38387
LeBron just passed Kobe (again) for the “Age 33” title. Kobe had 29484 points through his Age 33 season. Lebron now has the title for 14 consecutve seasons.
At the time he completed his seasons, Kobe held the title for every season he played – his Age 18 through Age 37 seasons. Remarkable. However, he’s been passed by players other than Lebron (just not by as much). He’s now as low as 5th: here’s the leaderboard for Age 23 season:
Player Points LeBron James 10689 Kevin Durant 9978 Carmelo Anthony 9264 Tracy McGrady 8542 Kobe Bryant 8197 ... Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 4957 (only his second season)
To date in his career, LeBron James has been the ideal combination of an early start, high productivity, and injury avoidance. He’s clearly “on pace” to break Kareem’s record, but Kareem’s late-career productivity is unparalleled. You know I’ll be watching.