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NBA Survival Guide: LeBron James and the records that will fall in 2024-25

NBA Survival Guide: LeBron James and the records that will fall in 2024-25

LeBron James became the NBA’s first 40,000-point scorer last season, but among the milestones he will reach this season comes from a less respected institution. The Los Angeles Lakers legend is set to set the record for most missed field goals in a career and is on pace to become the first player to ever make 15,000 missed shots.

James’ sixth miss of the season will break Kobe Bryant’s record of 14,481. Bryant ranks fourth in points but first in missed throws. James will be the all-time leader in both cases as early as opening night, when LA hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, on the other hand, is second in points and eighth in missed shots.

CAREER

POINTS

FG

FGA

FG%

eFG%*

LeBron James

40,074

14,837

29,313

50.6

54.7

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

38,387

15,837

28,307

55.9

56.0

Karl Malone

36,928

13,528

26,210

51.6

51.8

Kobe Bryant

33,643

11,719

26,200

44.7

48.2

Michael Jordan

32,292

12,192

24,537

49.7

50.9

*eFG%: Effective field goal percentage. Adjusted for 3-point attempts. ((FGM + (0.5 * 3pm)) / FGA

Not all things are equal. Malone benefited by attempting 1,326 more free throws than anyone else. James is playing at the peak of the 3-point bonus. Abdul-Jabbar scored the vast majority of his points within eight feet of the basket. All are great scorers, all have different skills and it is almost impossible to compare them across eras.

The takeaway? Although James will eclipse Bryant for the most missed shots of all time in the NBA, he remains the superior scorer in both volume and efficiency. Still, James would certainly rather celebrate his other milestones.

Here's everything you need to know for the 2024-25 NBA season. (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

Speaking of which, James needs…

  • 850 minutes to overtake Abdul-Jabbar, the most of his career.

  • 68 games were played to move Abdul-Jabbar into second place behind Robert Parish.

  • 423 rebounds to pass Patrick Ewing for 25th place.

That’s right. By the end of the season, James will likely have played more minutes than anyone else – nearly 1,000 hours – while ranking first in career points, fourth in assists and top 25 in rebounds. Abdul-Jabbar is the only other player at the top 50 all three categories. Kevin Garnett comes closest.

In case you didn’t know, LeBron James is good at basketball. These guys are too…

Chris Paul, who will ply his trade for the San Antonio Spurs this season, will push Jason Kidd into second place in career assists behind John Stockton And steals. Paul trails Kidd with 198 assists and 71 steals.

CAREER

HELPS

STEALS

John Stockton

15,806

3,265

Jason Kidd

12,091

2,684

Chris Paul

11,894

2,614

Paul, who like James will turn 40 before the end of this NBA calendar year, recorded 393 assists and 70 steals in 58 appearances last season, playing mostly reserve minutes. He will likely start in San Antonio.

How much distance did Stockton create between himself and the field in both categories? Paul would have to repeat last season’s stats for another 10 seasons to have any hope of surpassing either record.

Durant needs 1,076 points to become the eighth member of the 30,000-point club, joining James, Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Last season he scored 2,032 points.

With a repeat of last season’s performances, Stephen Curry (23,668) and DeMar DeRozan (23,582) will become the 26th and 27th members of the 25,000-point club, and Giannis Antetokounmpo (18,502) would be the 52nd player to reach 20,000 points – almost automatic entry into the Hall of Fame.

Paul George (18,032) also has an outside shot to reach 20,000 points this season.

Potential additions to the 15,000 point club this season: Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, Devin Booker, CJ McCollum, Nikola Jokić and Kawhi Leonard. Booker was the seventh youngest player to reach 10,000.

The order at the top of the NBA’s career scoring list won’t change much given how high James and Durant have already climbed, although James Harden (25,885) could climb as high as 13th, with Garnett at the same time , John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan and Dominique Wilkins overtook , Oscar Robertson and Hakeem Olajuwon (26,668).

Curry is the 3-point king of the NBA. The 3,747 he has made in his career is 774 more than Ray Allen, the previous record holder, and this season he will become the first player ever to make 4,000 triples.

However, the top 10 behind Curry will be completely reshuffled. This is what it looks like now:

CAREER

3-HAND

Stephen Curry

3,747

Ray Allen

2,973

James Harden

2,940

Damian Lillard

2,607

Reggie Miller

2,560

Klay Thompson

2,481

Kyle Korver

2,450

LeBron James

2,410

Vince Carter

2,290

Jason Terry

2,282

And this is what it will look like at the end of the season when everyone repeats last season’s performance:

PROJECTED

3-HAND

Stephen Curry

4,104

James Harden

3,126

Ray Allen

2,973

Damian Lillard

2,827

Klay Thompson

2,749

Reggie Miller

2,560

LeBron James

2,559

Kyle Korver

2,450

Paul George

2,496

Vince Carter

2,290

Also …

  • Jokić (130) needs nine triple-doubles to pass Magic Johnson (138) and become the third-most hits in history behind Russell Westbrook (199) and Robertson (181). Jokić has played 675 games, Johnson 906.

  • Westbrook needs 532 assists to reach 10,000 for his career. The last time he recorded this many assists was in the 2022/23 season. James is the only other player to have 25,000 points and 10,000 assists in his career.

  • Nikola Vučević needs 565 rebounds to reach 10,000. He would become only the 28th player to ever score 15,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in a career. Dwight Howard was the last to achieve both goals.

  • Brook Lopez needs 88 blocks to become the first player since Howard – and the 20th player ever – to record 2,000 blocks.