How many games did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play in the NBA? Exploring his timeline to set NBA's all-time scoring record
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the best players in basketball history. The LA Lakers legend played for 20 years, becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer and retiring with 38,387 points, a mark once considered untouchable until surpassed by LeBron James on Tuesday night.
Abdul-Jabbar was a force to be reckoned with during his impressive career. He used his 7-foot-2 height and his skyhook to dominate his opponents.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appeared in 1,560 games. In comparison, James has played in 1,410 games so far.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons in the NBA
The 7-foot-2 center played for two teams during his 20-year career. After leading UCLA to three national championships and being the National Player of the Year in all three seasons (freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball at the time), he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent six years and won one championship.
However, Kareem spent the majority of his career in the City of Angels, playing for the Lakers, with whom he won five more titles.
In those first six seasons in Milwaukee, Abdul-Jabbar appeared in 467 games, scoring 14,211 points. His impressive scoring average of 30.4 points per game, and he led the league in scoring twice.
While he played for the LA Lakers, the Hall of Famer wasn't as great a scorer as he was in Milwaukee. However, the 19-time All-Star and 11-time All-Defensive team member didn't need to score as many points to win games and championships, as he played for rosters with Magic Johnson and James Worthy.
In Los Angeles, he led the NBA in rebounds once, field-goal percentage once and blocks four times. He was the MVP three times as a Laker, equaling his total as a Buck.
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In 14 seasons with the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 22.1 ppg. This includes his last season in which he averaged only 10.1 points in 22.9 minutes per game.
By the 1983-84 season, Abdul-Jabbar had scored 29,810 career points. He needed 1,609 points to surpass Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time scoring list, who was at the top of it at the time.
Considering that the Lakers center scored 1,722 points a season earlier, surpassing Chamberlain wasn't a difficult task.
Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Wilt Chamberlain for the scoring record
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA's all-time leading scorer on April 5, 1984. He surpassed Wilt Chamberlain in the 76th game of the 1983-84 season and in the 15th season of his professional basketball career.
The Lakers center had a historic night against the Utah Jazz. He needed 19 points to tie Chamberlain and 20 points to surpass him.
The big man used his iconic skyhook to score two points over Mark Eaton and become the league's greatest scorer.
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Abdul-Jabbar finished the game with 22 points on 10-for-14 (71.4%) shooting. He also added five rebounds, three assists and a block to his stat line, helping the Lakers beat the Jazz 129-115.