LeBron James: 'I Will Not Allow Myself to Think About' Passing Kareem on Scoring List

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said he won't spend too much time thinking about potentially becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

James (36,947 points) passed Karl Malone (36,928) to reach second place on the regular-season scoring list Friday night. He now stands 1,440 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) for the top spot.

"I will not allow myself to think about it," the four-time NBA MVP told reporters. "I've always just played the game the way I've been playing it over the years, and these things have just happened organically by just going out and playing the game the right way. Hope to accomplish that at some point in my career, but I won't think about it too much."

In February, James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer when counting points from both the regular season and the playoffs, passing Abdul-Jabbar.

"Been appreciative of the opportunity to play this game at the highest level," he said at the time. "I love the game of basketball. I love being a part of the NBA and being able to inspire so many different sets of generations. I guess, it's a pretty big deal."

It'll take a little bit of time before he chases down the six-time NBA champion's regular-season scoring mark.

James has averaged a shade under 2,000 points per season across his 19 years in the NBA. His pace slowed a bit in recent years because of a season shortened by COVID-19 and some injury issues.

He's still an elite scorer when healthy—he ranks second in the NBA at 29.8 points per game this season, trailing only the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (30.0 PPG)—so his pace would put him on track to break the record sometime around the middle of next season.

Even if injuries or other issues slow the pursuit, the 37-year-old Ohio native is still in terrific physical condition and has shown no sign his career is anywhere nears its conclusion, so it's merely a matter of time before he passes Abdul-Jabbar.

James has other things to focus on in the short term as the Lakers, who fell to 30-41 with Friday's loss to the Washington Wizards, try to salvage a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament.