Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

LeBron James sets unwanted, longevity record

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Oct 23, 2024 10:11 AM ET

When you play as many games as LeBron James, even the negative records are there for the taking.

The opening night fixture against the Timberwolves marked his 1,493rd regular-season game — third most in history behind Robert Parish (1,611) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,560) — in his record-tying 22nd season.

Entering the game, James had attempted the most field goals (29,313) in NBA history over Abdul-Jabbar (28,307) and Karl Malone (26,210), and yet, he didn't own the record for the most misses — a testament to his efficient career .504 field goal percentage.

As he attempted another 17 shots, though, James missed just enough to surpass Kobe Bryant for most in history.

LeBron James now has the most missed field goals in NBA history pic.twitter.com/GuASGyF3rC
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 23, 2024

The Lakers star has now missed 14,485 shots from 29,329 attempts. In comparison, Bryant missed 14,481 shots from 26,200 attempts. Essentially, James attempted another 3,000-plus shots to surpass the misses by Bryant, who was, despite his greatness, a notorious gunner. "The Black Mamba" shot .447 from the field for his career.

Positive records incoming

The record for "most field goal misses" is not one to write home about, but James has a few positive milestones coming his way soon.

First, he is just 1,348 points shy of reaching 50,000 career points (postseason included), a milestone he can attain by the 53rd game of the season if he maintains his points-per-game pace (25.7) from last season.

Second, James, with 56,632 minutes, is 815 minutes away from breaking Abdul-Jabbar's record for most minutes in NBA history. He is projected to break the record during the Dec. 8 game against the Blazers, provided he stays healthy and averages 35 minutes per game.

At some point during the season, James (554) will also surpass Michael Jordan's record (562) for most 30-point games in history.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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