“You can’t have everything for too long” – Kareem talks about LeBron overtaking him as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time scoring record on April 5, 1984, and added to it before retiring in 1989. Abdul-Jabbar was the golden standard for 38 years until LeBron James shattered his mark in 2023.
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During his recent appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” the all-time great fondly known as The Captain talked about surrendering one of the NBA’s most iconic records to the current Lakers superstar.
“LeBron has earned it,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “He’s worked hard for 20 years. I mean, more power to him. I didn’t really play to deal with records. I wanted to lead my team to the championship. And I was fortunate enough to be on the winning team six times, and I was MVP twice. I’m satisfied with that.”
Kareem was just too good, too dominant
Aside from six NBA championships, Abdul-Jabbar also led Power Memorial Academy to three straight New York City Catholic League titles and UCLA to three consecutive NCAA men’s basketball championships, making him one of the sport’s ultimate winners. Because he was the best player on his team, KAJ also took home many individual accolades and was almost always the top scorer. The same thing happened when he was in the NBA.
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Kareem was the NBA’s scoring champion during his second and third years in the league, when he also won his first two MVP awards. Abdul-Jabbar averaged over 26 points per game in each of his first eight NBA seasons and was a 20-point scorer in his first 17 years. So it wasn’t because Cap wanted to break Wilt’s record; he was just so good, unstoppable, and durable that he was able to break it.
“You can’t have everything for too long. Records were made to be broken, and more power to LeBron. I hope he enjoys it, does all that he wants to do with during his career and after his career. He’s had an incredible career. He does things, incredible things, off the court and on the court. Off the court, he sent a whole school district to college. And then on the court, he’s crushed everybody for 20 years now. So he deserves it and I hope he enjoys it,” he added.
LeBron has pushed the record to 42,184 points
In Kareem’s case, he played five more years after breaking Wilt’s record and padded it from 31,420 to 38,387 when he retired. Meanwhile, since breaking KAJ’s record, LBJ has gone from 38,388 to 42,184. And although he is 40 years old, going 41, James is coming off a ridiculous Year 22 season where he averaged 24.4 points per game and made the All-NBA second team.
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Unless he suddenly suffers a steep decline this year, King James could push the record even farther to a number where no one might ever break it. Last year, Bron became the first player to score 40,000 career points. In March, the Purple & Gold superstar also became the first player to score 50,000 points combined in the regular season and playoffs.
However, more than those, the LeBron number that stands out more to Kareem is 1,300. That’s the number of students that James’ “I Promise School” has served since its inception in 2018. In 2020, all 193 students in its inaugural batch were awarded four years of free college tuition to attend Kent State University, plus one year of board and lodging fully paid for. Last year, Anthony Claytor became the first of those students to finish school and graduate.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 3, 2025, where it first appeared.