LeBron James is climbing up another ranking in his increasing list of records. In the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Laker superstar passed Wilt Chamberlain to take the third spot in all-time field goals made in the NBA.
It was a simple layup that nonchalantly propelled James past his fellow Laker. After an early basket tied him with Chamberlain’s record of 12,681 field goals made, LeBron quickly made another layup, surpassing the legend’s longstanding record to reach 12,682 field goals. James ended the night with 9 additional baskets, placing him at 12,691 field goals and counting.
Chamberlain is one of the foremost pillars of the game, on top of the leaderboard for career records for points, games played, field goals made, and a plethora of other records. He is also the first and only player to score 100 points in a game. The closest anyone else has come to that long-standing record was fellow Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points in a game.
In third place on the all-time list of field goals made, James is now behind only Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. At 36 years old, it’s feasible that James still has at least 4 years of competitive basketball left in him to keep climbing up the record list. Malone sits in second place with 13,538 field goals made, while Abdul-Jabbar far outpaces him in first place with 15,837 field goals in his career.
While it might seem an insurmountable record, it is still within the ability of James to top the list. With a little more than 3,000 field goals between him and the top spot, and assuming he remains healthy, it is feasible LeBron James could achieve the feat by the conclusion of his playing career. His career field goal average is 9.9 field goals per game, which would put him on pace to pass Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot in a little over 3.5 years.
Even if James is not able to take the top spot, it is no small feat to have surpassed one of the NBA’s premier players for yet another record. It is just another notch in the cap of a global superstar who continues to thrive.