Updated March 21, 2026, 7:16 p.m. ET
Another NBA night, and another record that will have LeBron James’ name etched in history for a long time. Robert Parish set the games played record on April 19, 1997, with 1,611 games, and it was King James (who else?) who finally surpassed it 28 years, 11 months, and two days later when he stepped onto the court against the Orlando Magic on March 21.
At this stage, he’s not just breaking records anymore but running up the score and making them unreachable for future players (especially if the NBA makes the bold move of shortening the regular season).
These are some of the categories in which he ranks No. 1 all-time in the NBA right now.
Most All-NBA selections: At 21, he has six more than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant. He’s both the youngest and oldest player ever selected for an All-NBA Team. One caveat: There was no All-NBA 3rd Team during Abdul-Jabbar’s era. Had it existed, Abdul-Jabbar would likely rank closer to LeBron in this category.
Most All-NBA 1st Team selections: With 13, he has two more than Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone.
Most points scored all-time: Passed Abdul-Jabbar three years ago and is really opening up a gap now, with 43,229, and counting. Want an example? The difference between LeBron and Michael Jordan (No. 5) is larger than the one between MJ and Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 42).
Most regular-season Win Shares: 275.6 as of March 21.
Most All-Star selections: He’s been an All-Star 22 different times, which is three more than Abdul-Jabbar.
Most points scored in the playoffs: With 8,289 already, he’s got over 2,300 more points than the player in second place (Michael Jordan).
Most playoff games won: 184. Moved past Derek Fisher and Tim Duncan in 2020. He’s got a 63.0 percent winning percentage in the playoffs. That’s a bit worse than Jordan, who had a 66.5 percent win rate in the postseason.
Most playoff Win Shares: He leads by a wide margin with 59.5. Michael Jordan ranks second at 39.8, followed by Tim Duncan at 37.8.
Most playoff game-winning buzzer beaters: At five, he has the most playoff buzzer beaters ever. He has as many as Jordan (3), Bryant (1), and Kawhi Leonard (1) combined. Strangely enough, he has more playoff buzzer beaters than regular-season buzzer beaters, of which he only has three.
Best Value Over Replacement Player in regular season: He’s No. 1 in regular-season VORP at 158.8. Second place is Jordan at 116.1, and third is John Stockton at 106.5.
Best Value Over Replacement Player in playoffs: He also leads all players in NBA history in playoff VORP at 36.6.
Most consecutive double-digit scoring games in the regular season: 1,297. One of his crazier accomplishments. He’s the first player ever to hit 10-plus points in 1,000-plus games in a row.
Most 30-plus point games: 699. He reached that mark 576 times in the regular season and another 123 times in the playoffs.
Most Player of the Week awards: He has more than double Kobe Bryant’s total with 69 to Bryant’s 33. He benefits here from the NBA instituting two Player of the Week awards per week (one for each conference) starting in the 2001-02 season.
Most Player of the Month awards: 41. He has more of these than the next two players on the list combined (Bryant and Jordan). Again, the NBA started giving out a Player of the Month award for each conference starting in 2001-02 season, so he does get a bit of help here. Also, the award didn’t even exist before 1979.
Most points in All-Star games: 449. He’s the only player ever with at least 300 points scored in All-Star contests; Kobe Bryant is second with 290, and Kevin Durant third with 284.
Most regular-season games: 1,612.
Most regular-season minutes played: 60,676.
Most regular-season field goals made: 15,884.
Most regular-season turnovers: 5,620.
Most playoff games: 292.
Most playoff minutes played: 12,062.
Most playoff field goals made: 2,971.
Most playoff free throws made: 1,867.
Most playoff steals: 493.
Most points by a player 40 years or older: 2,098.
Most NBA seasons played: 23.
Most opponents in NBA history: 1,845.
Most money earned: $583,949,426.
Most All-Star losses: 11.
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