Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has staked his claim on the Mt. Rushmore of NBA basketball, moving past the shadow of longtime icon Michael Jordan by surpassing him and claiming sole possession of fourth place on the all-time NBA scoring list.
The Lakers forward scored his 32,294th point Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets on this nice left-handed shot at the rim:
LeBron James has just passed Michael Jordan for fourth all-time in scoring. pic.twitter.com/bFXZ0vRYbG
— Lakers Outsiders (@LakersOutsiders) March 7, 2019
The King now only trails Kobe Bryant (33,643 career points) for a spot in the top three of this coveted list, though surpassing the Lakers icon for third place on the list is a task that will have to wait until next season.
The other two on the list, Karl Malone (36,928 career points) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 career points) are much taller obstacles to climb, but feasible goals within reach if James can prove healthy enough to play another three or four years while scoring at a similar clip.
James needed only 13 points heading into Wednesday's game to surpass Jordan (32,292 career points), who played 15 seasons in the NBA while averaging 30.1 points per game.
Despite an injury that caused him to miss 17 consecutive games through the middle of this NBA season, James has scored at a nearly identical clip as his last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, though his total scoring output is likely to be his lowest since 2014-15, when he mustered 1,743 points while averaging 25.3 points through 69 games.
LeBron James has already missed 18 games due to injury and load management, which would put him at 1,728 points for the year if he continues to score at the current pace without missing another game this season.
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