LeBron James has passed Karl Malone on the NBA's all-time leading scoring list.
After going for 38 points in the Los Angeles Lakers loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday, James has passed Malone for second on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
LeBron James is now 2nd All-Time in Scoring.
— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2022
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James has made a serious dent in his deficit to Malone over the past few weeks, going for 56 points on March 5 and 50 points on March 11.
LeBron has scored 50+ twice in three games for the first time in his career!
— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2022
Mar. 5: 56 points
Tonight: 50 points pic.twitter.com/8ZSz0JXMQV
James went into Saturday's contest 20 points away from passing Malone and only needed one half of play to surpass the Hall of Famer.
James recently passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in all-time points for the regular season and playoffs combined, but when could he pass the Hall of Famer atop of the real all-time scoring leader board?
We have tables for both milestones below, along with a quick projection on when James may break the regular-season record.
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NBA's all-time scoring list (regular season only)
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 38,387 |
| 2. | LeBron James | 36,947* |
| 3. | Karl Malone | 36,928 |
| 4. | Kobe Bryant | 33,643 |
| 5. | Micahel Jordan | 32,292 |
| 6. | Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 |
| 7. | Wilt Chamberlain | 31,419 |
| 8. | Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 |
| 9. | Carmelo Anthony | 28,205* |
| 10. | Moses Malone | 27,409 |
*Updated at halftime of Lakers-Wizards game. Will be updated again after final result.
James went into Saturday's contest against the Wizards in need of 20 points to pass Malone. He went for 23 points in the first half alone, becoming the second all-time leading scorer before halftime.
When could he pass Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot? LeBron is still 1,440 points away from passing Kareem, meaning he'll need at least another season to make that leap.
While James has defied Father Time to this point in his career, any sign of slowing down could alter the course of when he becomes the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Right now, he is on pace to score roughly 327 more points this season, which would put him just over 1,100 away from passing Abdul-Jabbar.
Even during a 2020-21 season where he only played 45 games, James still tallied 1,126 points. That was by far the fewest amount of total points he has scored in a season in his career, and based on averages, that number would almost be enough to pass Abdul-Jabbar next season.
All of this to say, it's a safe bet that James becomes the NBA's all-time leading scorer at some point during the 2022-23 NBA season.
NBA's combined all-time scoring list (regular season and playoffs)
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1. | LeBron James | 44,578* |
| 2. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 44,149 |
| 3. | Karl Malone | 41,689 |
| 4. | Kobe Bryant | 39,283 |
| 5. | Michael Jordan | 38,279 |
| 6. | Dirk Nowitzki | 35,223 |
| 7. | Wilt Chamberlain | 35,026 |
| 8. | Shaquille O'Neal | 33,846 |
| 9. | Tim Duncan | 31,668 |
| 10. | Hakeem Olajuwon | 30,701 |
*Updated at halftime of Saturday's Lakers-Wizards game.