On this day in history, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer ... against the Jazz
On this day 40 years ago, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer ... against the Jazz.
Scoring record broken
On April 5, 1984, more than 18,000 fans gathered at the Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to watch history be made.
After moving to Utah in 1979, the Jazz had been struggling to fill seats in Salt Lake, so they decided to host a series of “home” games in Las Vegas, per the NBA. The 18,389 fans that attended this Lakers vs. Jazz matchup was the largest “home” crowd the Jazz had played in front of since their move from New Orleans, and they got a good show.
The Lakers, with a roster full of basketball giants like Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, took on the Jazz and Adrian Dantley, Thurl Bailey and Mark Eaton.
Coming into the game, Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers’ dynamic veteran and center, needed only 22 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain for the NBA’s all-time scoring record.
Per History, “With less than nine minutes left in the game, Magic Johnson passed the ball to his 7′2″ teammate and Abdul-Jabbar scored his 22nd point of the night and 31,420th point of his career.”
The game was then stopped while Abdul-Jabbar’s teammates swarmed him while fans celebrated and gave him a standing ovation.
You can watch the moment here:
After the game resumed, the Lakers went on to win 129-115.
Abdul-Jabbar would go on to play for five more years and his scoring record stood for 38 years, until Feb. 7, 2023.
Who is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
Per History, Abdul-Jabbar was born on April 16, 1947, in New York City, under the name Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. After converting to Islam, he changed his name in 1971.
Abdul-Jabbar played college basketball at UCLA, leading the Bruins to championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. He was picked as the first pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1969 NBA draft. In his first year, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1970, and in his second year, the Bucks won the NBA Championship.
According to ESPN, Abdul-Jabbar won six MVP awards, two Finals MVP awards, was named to the All-NBA 1st Team 10 times, and won six championships.
He retired from basketball in 1989 with a career total of 38,387 points.
After basketball, Abdul-Jabbar went on to be a successful writer, historian and filmmaker focused on Black history. He has also been active politically and socially, running a charity focused on bringing STEM to kids that need it and being an active voice nationally.
Who broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record?
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, LeBron James passed Abdul-Jabbar to become first on the NBA all-time scoring list. Per ESPN, in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James needed 36 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar. He finished the game with 38 and a career total of 38,390 points.
Since then, James has gone on to become the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points. On March 2, 2024, in a game against the Denver Nuggets, James needed just nine points to reach the milestone. With just under 11 minutes left in the second quarter, he drove for a layup to hit 40,000.
