LeBron James breaks 39-year record for most field goals while suffering loss to Denver Nuggets

LeBron James broke the record for the most field goals in NBA history which had been previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar since 1989.  

James hit a turnaround 12-foot jumper over Denver Nuggets' Zeke Nnaji with 12 seconds left in the first quarter on Thursday to surpass Abdul-Jabbar's mark.

Despite the moment in history, the Lakers still suffered a 120-113 loss with Nuggets' Nikola Jokic leading the game's points scoring stats with 28.

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"My name being mentioned with some of the greatest to ever play this game has always been humbling and pretty cool," James said.

"It's a pretty cool thing. I grew up watching and reading, idolizing a lot of the greats. And if I ever was able to be a part of the NBA, I wanted to be in position where I could be named with some of the greats by doing something right."

The record-breaking bucket gave James 15,838 career field goals in his unprecedented 23rd NBA season, while Abdul-Jabbar had 15,837 baskets after ending his 20-year career in 1989 as the NBA's career scoring leader.

Karl Malone, who played most of his career at Utah Jazz before ending on one season with the Lakers, is a distant third with 13,528 field goals.

James finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting but it was his all-round game that kept the Lakers close after the Nuggets jumped out to a 16-3 lead in their wire-to-wire win.

"He's been a complete player for 23 years," Lakers coach J.J. Redick said.

"He's just a phenomenal basketball player."

Nikola Jokic concurred, saying, "He's definitely a legendary player."

The now 41-year-old also passed Abdul-Jabbar to become the top scorer in NBA history in February 2023.

James has already attempted more field goals than any NBA player - 31,274 entering Thursday night, including more than 7,500 3-pointers.

Abdul-Jabbar, who made more than 50 per cent of his shots in 19 straight seasons to start his career, attempted only 28,307 field goals and just 18 of them were 3-pointers after the shot was introduced to the league midway through his career.

Although, with four minutes to go and left the game, James hurt his left elbow on a layup that pulled Los Angeles to 110-106.

He and Jokic clashed into each other as James scored fell to the floor, bracing himself with his right arm but injuring his left.

No foul was called and James said the officials told him the contact was "marginal."

"It's pretty sore right now. It feels like a funny bone situation," said James, who returned with 2:05 left and the Lakers trailing by a point.

The Lakers, however, never were able to overcome the Nuggets - or leapfrog them in the standings.

So, James wasn't really able to look back over his career and relish making more baskets than anyone who ever played the game.

"I don't know, right now it doesn't hit me at all," James said.

"Obviously, what I feel is my elbow and I feel the loss.

"Obviously, it's a pretty cool feat. But it's hard for me to kind of wrap my head around it and what it looks like. It's something, one, that I've never had a goal to have that record ... but it's a pretty cool feat, it's an unbelievable feat."