On February 7th, LeBron James set history after breaking the seemingly unbeatable record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for 39 years of 38,387 career points. The scary part is that LeBron still has so much juice left in the tank, on track to score potentially over 43,000 points.
Hence, yet another seemingly unbreakable record is formed.
LeBron has countless (literally) moments that got him to this point, one stacking on top of another. He has so many legacy moments that players can dream of having, and LeBron has countless. In celebration of his success, Digits has decided to look back on the most defining moment or achievement from every season of LeBron’s career.
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2003-04 - Rookie of the Year, Incredible Debut: In his NBA debut, LeBron -- dubbed the Chosen One -- scored 25 points and added 6 rebounds and 9 assists. He ended up as the Rookie of the Year, setting up the future for the King.
2004-05 - Numbers Jump, First Time Scoring Over 50: LeBron’s per game statistics jumped to 27/7/7 this year, just his second season in the league. A 56 point explosion in March 2005 marked what was then career high.
2005-06 - Historic Playoff Debut: LeBron finally led the Cavaliers to the playoffs. In his first career playoff game, LeBron had a 32/11/11 statline, becoming the third player ever to record a triple double in their playoff debut.
2006-07 - ECF Game 5 vs. Pistons Takeover: This game seems like one of the most under-appreciated games of LeBron’s career. He scored 25 straight points and 29 of 30 for Cleveland to come out with a win.
2007-08 - Scoring Title, Willed Cavs to Finals: Despite being the All-Time Scoring Leader, LeBron only has one scoring title, which came in this 2008 season. He also made his first Finals appearance this year.
2008-09 - First MVP: And a year after making his first Finals, LeBron took home his first MVP after averaging 28/7/7.
2009-10 - Fastest Ever to 15K Points: LeBron holds many of these first to X points records, but one notable of these is the fastest to 15,000 points, where LeBron broke Kobe Bryant’s record by being two years younger.
2010-11 - NBA Finals Loss, Blunder: Yes, this is negative. However, it is what marked a major turn in LeBron’s career. It prepared him for future NBA Finals games and how to fight adversity. It was undoubtedly monumental in his career and its growth.
2011-12 - ECF Game 6, First Title: This was the birth of the iconic LeBron game. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron put up 45/15/5 en route to a must-win to force a Game 7 against Boston. They ended up going to the Finals and winning, and that could not be done without Game 6.
2012-13 - Arguably Peak LeBron: Many view this season as LeBron’s prime, given his all-around success. Along with an MVP, title, and FMVP, LeBron nearly won the DPOY.
2013-14 - 60 Piece and Career High: Against the Charlotte Bobcats in March 2014, LeBron exploded for what has been his career high for nearly a decade to this point: 61 points.
2014-15 - Don’t Need Miami: After his return to Cleveland in the 2014 offseason, LeBron proved his ability that he doesn’t need Coach Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and others to win. He led Cleveland to the Finals and played incredible in the Finals to get Cleveland two wins.
2015-16 - The 3-1 Comeback: There is no need to explain this. It’s that legendary.
2016-17 - Still Him: At age 32, LeBron led the league in minutes for the first time in his career. He averaged 26/8/8 and got Cleveland back to the Finals, making his 7th consecutive Finals appearance.
2017-18 - The 2018 Playoff Run: This feels similar to the 2016 paragraph. He averaged 34/7/9, enough said.
2018-19 - 32,293rd Career Point to Surpass MJ: In March 2019, LeBron jumped to 4th on the all-time scoring leaderboard, passing his childhood idol.
2019-20 - Title #4: What people say about the bubble isn’t true; it truly counts, and it granted LeBron his 4th ring, a huge legacy boost for himself.
2020-21: 10+ Points in 1K Straight Games: This record, like the scoring record, feels unbreakable. In this season, LeBron finally reached 1,000 consecutive games with 10 or more points, just an absurd stat when put into perspective.
2021-22 - 2nd All-Time Scoring, Passes Malone: In March 2022, LeBron finally jumped to second on the scoring list (passing Karl Malone), firmly setting himself on track to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 2023 season.
2022-23 - The Scoring Record: And this is LeBron’s greatest achievement, one which he will hold for what will be an insanely long time.
Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst