LeBron James reached yet another milestone in his storied career on Wednesday when he moved into 10th place on the Los Angeles Lakers‘ all-time scoring list during the team’s 131-119 loss to the Utah Jazz. James has now scored 10,603 points in a Lakers uniform.
The moment for James came late in the third quarter when he cut to the basket, took a pass from Austin Reaves, pump-faked to shake the defense and converted a lefty layup. Those two points put James past Jamaal Wilkes, who played for the Lakers from 1977-85 and was a part of title teams in 1980, 1982 and 1985. Wilkes’ No. 52 was retired by the franchise in 2012.
James finished the night with 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists, but that was not enough as the Lakers suffered a surprise defeat to the lowly Jazz. The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Lakers, who have won 12 of their last 15 to surge into fifth place in the Western Conference.
They’ll now be off until Feb. 19, when they come back from the All-Star break a day early to make up their game with the Charlotte Hornets, which was postponed due to the wildfires in L.A. in January.
Lakers’ all-time scoring list
As you can see, James needs more than 2,000 points to move any higher on the list. Assuming he plays next season and doesn’t suffer any major injuries, he should move past Byron Scott, and there’s a chance for him to catch Gail Goodrich as well. If he wants to chase down Shaquille O’Neal, he’d likely need to play two more seasons beyond this one. Everyone beyond O’Neal appears to be out of reach unless he decides to keep playing well into his mid-40s.
|
Kobe Bryant |
33,643 |
|
Jerry West |
25,192 |
|
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
24,176 |
|
Elgin Baylor |
23,149 |
|
Magic Johnson |
17,707 |
|
James Worthy |
16,320 |
|
Shaquille O’Neal |
13,895 |
|
Gail Goodrich |
13,044 |
|
Byron Scott |
12,780 |
|
LeBron James |
10,603 |
While James has certainly had more memorable accomplishments throughout his career, this one is notable because it highlights how long he’s been in Los Angeles. This is his seventh season with the Lakers, the same number of seasons he spent in Cleveland during his initial stint with the Cavaliers.
Because of his prior accomplishments with the Cavaliers and Miami Heat, and the age at which he headed west, he’s not quite regarded as a Lakers legend in the same vein as Kareem and Magic or Kobe and Shaq. But he’s been in L.A. for nearly a decade, won a title and is among the franchise leaders in not only points but 3-pointers (second) and assists (eighth).
