Lakers star LeBron James has picked up the scoring pace over the past month and is fast approaching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA record for career regular-season points.

Abdul-Jabbar took over the top spot on April 5, 1984 – eight months before James was born – when he broke the mark previously held by another former Lakers center, Wilt Chamberlain. James needs just 284 points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 38,387, meaning he will almost certainly reach the milestone before next month’s All-Star break.

At his career scoring average of 27.2 PPG, James would need 11 games to reach that total, putting him on track to break the record on Feb. 9 against the Milwaukee Bucks. The four-time league MVP has missed 10 games so far this season, but the short-handed team is desperately trying to gain ground in the Western Conference standings so he doesn’t seem likely to sit often in the weeks ahead. Through 35 games this season, James is averaging 29.8 PPG, putting him ahead of his career pace.

COUNTDOWN UPDATE

Today: 38,104

Points needed: 284

Projected games: 11

Projected date: Feb. 9

LeBRON’S LAST 10 GAMES

Jan. 18 – vs. Sacramento – 32

Jan. 16 – vs. Houston – 48

Jan. 15 – vs. Philadelphia – 35

Jan. 12 – vs. Dallas – 24

Jan. 7 – at Sacramento – 37

Jan. 6 – vs. Atlanta – 25

Jan. 2 – at Charlotte – 43

Dec. 30 – at Atlanta – 47

Dec. 28 – at Miami – 27

Dec. 27 – at Orlando – 28

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