
LeBron James passed Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th on the NBA’s career scoring list Saturday night, scoring 25 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 102-101 win at Philadelphia.
James raised his career total to 26,970 points. Assuming he scores around 2,000 points this season, he’ll pass three more legends to reach No. 7. Next up:
Elvin Hayes — 27,313
Moses Malone — 27,409
Shaquille O’Neal — 28,596
Reaching No. 6 could happen next season — Dirk Nowitzki, the only active player on the list, has 29,527 points but is struggling with injuries. If LeBron stays healthy and keeps scoring at the same rate, he could surpass Dirk in 2017-18, even if Nowitzki comes back for another season at age 39.
After that? The top five:
Wilt Chamberlain — 31,419
Michael Jordan — 32,292
Kobe Bryant — 33,643
Karl Malone — 36,928
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 38,387
Note: LeBron is only 12th on the NBA/ABA all-time list, which includes Dan Issel (27,482) and Julius Irving (30,026).