After logging 10 minutes in the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night, LeBron James reached 57,447 in his regular season career, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57,446) for the most in NBA history.
It is yet another accomplishment in the historic career of James, who has reached unprecedented heights when it comes to greatness, longevity and durability in his 22 seasons.
Before the Lakers’ game in Sacramento, LeBron spoke on what this latest accomplishment means to him, via Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“I just think it’s just a commitment to the craft and to the passion and love I have for the game,” James said of the milestone. “I don’t take much time in the off-season. A little bit more time now, I didn’t take much time in the offseason, no matter if I was making the 10 finals appearances back to back and just always trying to keep my body in tip-top shape.
“And I’ve been able to, like I said, play a lot of minutes and for the most part of my career be injury-free and be available. I don’t want to say injury-free. We all have our injuries in this league and in this sport. But to be available for the majority to my teammates, to the franchises, the three franchises I play for, is something I took very seriously.”
This is of course not the first record of Abdul-Jabbar’s that James has broken while wearing a Lakers uniform as he took the scoring record away from him in Feb. 2023.
Limiting LeBron’s minutes has been a big topic of conversation in recent years as he gets up there in age, and that will only continue moving forward now that he has played more minutes than anyone else ever has. As long as he continues to play at a high level though, it will be tough to keep James off the court.
LeBron James already passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in total minutes
While LeBron James has now passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in regular season minutes, he already did so in total minutes when combining regular and postseason during the Lakers’ game on Nov. 27, 2023, in Philadelphia.
James is turning 40 later this month and despite all of these minutes, he continues to play at a high level for the Lakers in his 22nd NBA season.
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