LeBron James catches a pass from Stanley Johnson with 5:20 left in the 2nd quarter and drops in the layup to pass Karl Malone.
LeBron James moved past Karl Malone into second place on the NBA’s career scoring list Saturday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar scored his 36,929th point on a cutting layup on a feed from Stanley Johnson in the second quarter against the Washington Wizards.
James began the night needing 20 points to reach the mark. He now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), whose record has stood since he retired in 1989.
Malone occupied the No. 2 spot since Dec. 6, 2000, when he moved past Wilt Chamberlain.
👑 LeBron receives a standing ovation after moving into 2nd All-Time in Scoring!
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— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2022
Now the big question is when will James become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader?
This is, of course, the Holy Grail of career records, because the purpose of the game is to put the ball through the hoop, right? If LeBron stays reasonably healthy, meaning he doesn’t suffer an injury serious enough to keep him benched for an extended period of time, he should catch Kareem next season.