LeBron James became the NBA's all-time leader in regular-season field goals made, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 15,837 during the Los Angeles Lakers' 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on March 6, 2026. The 41-year-old star achieved the milestone with a first-quarter jumper despite an elbow injury, drawing congratulations from Lakers legend Magic Johnson.
On March 6, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, in his 23rd NBA season, etched another historic milestone by passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record of 15,837 career regular-season field goals. With 12 seconds left in the first quarter, the 41-year-old James sank a 12-foot fadeaway turnaround jumper over Zeke Nnaji for his 15,838th make, finishing with 16 points in the 120-113 defeat—echoing the loss when he broke Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record in 2023.
Entering the game, James had attempted 31,274 field goals at 51.6% efficiency (including over 7,500 threes), compared to Abdul-Jabbar's 28,307 attempts (just 18 threes) at 55.9% over 20 seasons, mostly with the Lakers. This adds to James's feats, including 50,000 combined regular-season and playoff points last year and his 1,606th regular-season game (five shy of Robert Parish's record). Averaging 21.6 points, 7 assists, and 5.6 rebounds this season, the 22-time All-Star and four-time champion has an expiring contract and remains undecided on his future.
Lakers coach JJ Redick praised James's longevity pre-game, likening it to Bruce Springsteen: "LeBron’s greatest hits—he just keeps adding to them. He just plays and plays and plays." Post-game, James reflected humbly amid the loss and elbow injury: "Being mentioned with some of the greatest... it's a pretty cool feat, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around it. All I feel is my elbow and the loss."
Magic Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar's Showtime Lakers teammate, celebrated on social media the same day: "I want to congratulate Lakers legend and superstar LeBron James on becoming the all-time leader for field goals made in NBA history – passing my Showtime Lakers teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!" Denver's Nikola Jokic, who has praised James recently including at All-Star Weekend, scored 28 points alongside Jamal Murray to help the fifth-place Nuggets hold off the shorthanded Lakers. Karl Malone ranks third all-time with 13,528 field goals.
