The Cleveland Cavaliers may be slip-sliding, but LeBron James keeps steadily scaling the NBA's all-time scoring ladder.
With a free throw in the fourth quarter of Thursday's loss to the Chicago Bulls, James recorded the 28,597th point of his career, moving him past Hall of Famer and former teammate Shaquille O'Neal for seventh on the all-time scoring list.
James has made hay in his 14th season, which he started out sitting 11th all time. Since opening night, he's surged past Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, and now O'Neal.
He finished the game with 28,599 career regular-season points, and won't be climbing another rung this season, as the guy he's now chasing for sixth, Dirk Nowitzki, is more than 1,500 points clear of James (30,181) and still playing.
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 38387 |
| 2 | Karl Malone | 36928 |
| 3 | Kobe Bryant | 33643 |
| 4 | Michael Jordan | 32292 |
| 5 | Wilt Chamberlain | 31419 |
| 6 | Dirk Nowitzki | 30181 |
| 7 | LeBron James | 28599 |
