On Feb. 7, 2023, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. With James achieving yet another milestone, here is a look at some of the memorable performances, historic accomplishments and other major moments that have helped define his 20 seasons in the NBA.
October 29, 2003
NBA DEBUT
James made his NBA regular-season debut with Cleveland in a road game against the Sacramento Kings, recording 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals.
April 20, 2004
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
The 19-year-old James became the youngest player to win the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award after a season in which he averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds – the third first-year NBA player (after Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan) with a 20-5-5 season.
February 20, 2005
FIRST ALL-STAR GAME
James made his NBA All-Star Game debut and became the second-youngest player to play in the event (20 years and 52 days), finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists as a starter to help the Eastern Conference defeat the Western Conference 125-115 in Denver.
March 20, 2005
FIRST 50-POINT GAME
James scored 56 points against the Toronto Raptors, the first of his 14 regular-season games with 50 or more points. At the time, he became the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game (20 years and 80 days) and set the Cavaliers’ single-game scoring record.
FEBRUARY 19, 2006
YOUNGEST ALL-STAR GAME MVP
James became the youngest MVP of the NBA All-Star Game (21 years and 51 days) as he scored 29 points to help the Eastern Conference rally past the Western Conference 122-120 in Houston.
April 22, 2006
HISTORIC PLAYOFF DEBUT
James recorded 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in his playoff debut to lead Cleveland past the Washington Wizards 97-86 in Game 1 of a first-round series. He became the third player to have a triple-double in his first playoff game, joining Magic Johnson and Johnny McCarthy.
January 6, 2007
RECORD 10-POINT STREAK
James started his NBA-record streak of consecutive games with 10 or more points, which stood at 1,140 through games of Feb. 7, 2023. He broke Michael Jordan’s previous record of 866 straight games while playing for Cleveland in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 30, 2018.
May 31, 2007
KING OF THE PALACE
James scored 48 points, including Cleveland’s final 25 and 29 of its final 30, in a 109-107 double-overtime victory against the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills. James’ performance lifted the Cavaliers to their third straight victory over Detroit and a 3-2 series lead. Cleveland then won Game 6 to reach the NBA Finals for the first time.
March 21, 2008
CAVS' SCORING LEADER
James became the Cavaliers’ all-time scoring leader, achieving the milestone in a game against Toronto.
May 22, 2009
FIRST PLAYOFF BUZZER BEATER
James made a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to lift Cleveland past the Orlando Magic 96-95 in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, tying the series at 1-1. It was the first of his five game-winning buzzer-beating shots in the playoffs.
July 8, 2010
MOVE TO MIAMI
James announced that he would be joining the Miami Heat after playing his first seven seasons with the Cavaliers. Two days later, Miami acquired James from Cleveland as part of a sign-and-trade deal.
February 20, 2011
ALL-STAR TRIPLE-DOUBLE
James recorded 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the 2011 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. He became the second player to have a triple-double in the All-Star Game, joining Michael Jordan.
May 20, 2012
EPIC PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE
With Miami trailing the Indiana Pacers 2-1 and playing Game 4 on the road in the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals, James finished with 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists as the Heat defeated the Pacers 101-93 to even the series.
June 7, 2012
SEASON-SAVING SENSATION
With Miami facing elimination, James responded with 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a 98-79 road victory over Boston in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat went on to defeat the Celtics in Game 7 to advance to the NBA Finals.
June 21, 2012
FIRST NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
James won the first of his four NBA championships as he recorded 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the Heat’s series-clinching 121-106 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the 2012 NBA Finals. He earned the first of his four NBA Finals MVP Awards.
March 3, 2014
CAREER-HIGH 61 POINTS
James scored a career-high and Miami franchise-record 61 points – including an 8-for-8 start from three-point range – in a 124-107 victory against the Charlotte Bobcats.
July 11, 2014
RETURN TO CLEVELAND
James announced that he would rejoin the Cavaliers after playing four seasons with the Heat.
June 13 and 16, 2016
NBA FINALS COMEBACK
With the Cavaliers trailing the Warriors 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals, James posted 41 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks in Game 5 (June 13) and 41 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and three blocks in Game 6 (June 16) as Cleveland won both games to force a deciding Game 7.
June 19, 2016
WON FOR THE LAND
James had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 93-89 in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to earn their first NBA championship and become the first team to rally from a 3-1 series deficit to win the NBA Finals. In an instantly iconic play, James blocked a layup attempt by Andre Iguodala to keep the game tied with just under two minutes remaining. James was named Finals MVP for the third time after averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.57 steals and 2.29 blocks in the series.
February 6, 2017
A SIGNATURE SHOT
James made one of the most memorable – and improbable – shots of his career when he banked in a turnaround, fadeaway three-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation to tie Cleveland’s game against Washington. James finished with 32 points, 17 assists and seven rebounds in the Cavaliers’ 140-135 overtime victory.
May 25, 2017
all-time playoff scoring leader
James became the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring leader, reaching the milestone in Cleveland’s series-clinching 135-102 victory over Boston in Game 5 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. James passed Michael Jordan, who scored 5,987 playoff points.
November 3, 2017
57 POINTS
In the second-highest-scoring game of his career, James had 57 points (on 23-of-34 shooting from the field) to lead Cleveland past Washington 130-122.
February 18, 2018
THIRD ALL-STAR GAME MVP
In the first NBA All-Star Game without a matchup between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, James earned the third of his three All-Star MVPs after scoring 29 points and making the go-ahead layup with 34.5 seconds remaining to lead Team LeBron past Team Stephen 148-145 in Los Angeles.
MAY 5, 2018
ANOTHER PLAYOFF BUZZER BEATER
James banked in a 10-foot shot at the buzzer to complete a 38-point performance and give Cleveland a 105-103 victory over Toronto in Game 3 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals, extending the Cavaliers’ series lead to 3-0. The shot came 10 days after his game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer against Indiana in Game 5 of the First Round gave Cleveland a 3-2 series lead.
May 27, 2018
EIGHT STRAIGHT NBA FINALS
James recorded 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to lead Cleveland to an 87-79 road victory over Boston in Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, earning his eighth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. He then became the sixth player to play in eight straight NBA Finals, joining five players from Celtics teams in the 1950s and 1960s.
May 31, 2018
50-POINT NBA FINALS GAME
James scored a career-playoff-high 51 points against Golden State in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, recording the first 50-point Finals game in 25 years.
July 9, 2018
LBJ TO L.A.
James signed with the Lakers after playing four seasons in his second stint with Cleveland.
February 25, 2019
TOP 10 IN POINTS AND ASSISTS
James became the only player to rank in the top 10 in both all-time points and assists, reaching the milestone with the Lakers in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Already fifth in career points, James moved into 10th in assists by passing Andre Miller. (James has since climbed to fourth place in assists.)
September 16, 2020
ALL-NBA TEAM RECORD
James set the record for most All-NBA Team selections with 16, passing 15-time honorees Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.
October 11, 2020
FOURTH NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
With James recording 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, the Lakers defeated the Heat 106-93 in Game 6 to win the 2020 NBA Finals and earn their record-tying 17th championship. James won his fourth NBA championship and fourth NBA Finals MVP Award. He also became the first player to be named NBA Finals MVP with three different franchises.
October 21, 2021
NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM
James was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
March 5, 2022
VINTAGE PERFORMANCE
At age 37, James scored 56 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lakers past the Warriors 124-116. He joined Kobe Bryant as the only players 37 or older to score at least 55 points in a game and produced the first 55-and-10 performance by a Laker since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.
March 13, 2022
10,000 ASSISTS
James recorded his 10,000th career assist, making him the first player in NBA history to reach 10,000 in all of points, rebounds and assists. He achieved the milestone with the Lakers in a game against the Phoenix Suns.
March 19, 2022
PASSING MALONE
James passed Karl Malone for second place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, achieving the milestone with the Lakers in a game against Washington.
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