Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. LeBron James: NBA Rankings Comparison

The ultimate statistical showdown: compare Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James all-time NBA rankings. Explore their historical standing across total and per-game stats, regular season and playoffs. Who ranks higher?

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings
Filter: Career Stats - Lakers

Ever wondered how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James truly stack up against each other? This in-depth analysis goes beyond basic career numbers to provide an unparalleled look at where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with a career spanning 20 seasons from 1970 to 1989, and LeBron James, with 22 seasons played from 2004 to 2025, stand among the league's historical elite..

Dive into a meticulous breakdown of their positions in every major statistical category—from scoring, rebounding and assists to steals, blocks, triple-doubles, and rankings by points thresholds—across both regular season and their entire playoff careers. Our comprehensive tables offer side-by-side rankings, value comparisons, and key differences, ensuring you have all the definitive data to assess their historical impact.

First, review a concise summary of how they rank in NBA history in the main categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) for both total and per-game stats, and below, you can then explore in detail all their stats and their historical rankings.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. LeBron James
Total Stats, Rankings Summary

Career Totals
Season Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James
Points
2nd
1st
3rd
1st
Rebounds
3rd
25th
6th
4th
Assists
50th
4th
32nd
2nd
Steals
112nd
6th
36th
1st
Blocks
3rd
70th
2nd
9th
Years20221818

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. LeBron James
Per Game Stats, Rankings Summary

Career Per Game
Season Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James
Points
20th
8th
36th
6th
Rebounds
25th
188th
45th
103rd
Assists
296th
25th
296th
25th
Steals
+300th
82nd
+300th
37th
Blocks
8th
267th
9th
164th

Steals, blocks, offensive and defensive rebounds started to be recorded in the 1973-74 season. The 3-point shot was implemented in the 1979-80 season.
* Some years in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career don't have data for these stats.

Comparisons on this page:

Their rankings for:
Season Totals - Playoffs Totals /
Season Per Game - Playoffs Per Game

Note: per game rankings include players with a minimum of games played

Career Totals,
Regular Season Rankings

Stats Rankings:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Points
2nd
1st
1 38,387 vs. 42,1843,797
Rebounds
3rd
25th
22 17,440 vs. 11,7315,709
Assists
50th
4th
46 5,660 vs. 11,5845,924
Steals
112nd
6th
106 1,160 vs. 2,3451,185
Blocks
3rd
70th
67 3,189 vs. 1,1502,039
Offensive Rebounds
32nd
147th
115 2,975 vs. 1,7991,176
Defensive Rebounds
10th
7th
3 9,394 vs. 9,932538
Field Goals Made
1st
2nd
1 15,837 vs. 15,488349
Field Goals Attempted
2nd
1st
1 28,307 vs. 30,5832,276
3-Pointers Made
+300th
7th
+293 1 vs. 2,5592,558
3-Pointers Attempted
+300th
5th
+295 18 vs. 7,3227,304
Free Throws Made
13th
2nd
11 6,712 vs. 8,6491,937
Free Throws Attempted
9th
3rd
6 9,304 vs. 11,7352,431

Games and Years:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Games Played
3rd
2nd
1 1,560 vs. 1,5622
Seasons
7th
1st
6 20 vs. 222

Triple-Doubles:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Triple-Doubles
24th
5th
19 21 vs. 122101

Rankings by Points Scored:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
40+ point games
11th
6th
5 70 vs. 799
50+ point games
11th
8th
3 10 vs. 144
60+ point games
-
11th
0 vs. 11
70+ point games
-
-
0 vs. 00

Career Totals,
Playoffs Rankings

Stats Rankings:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Points
3rd
1st
2 5,762 vs. 8,2892,527
Rebounds
6th
4th
2 2,481 vs. 2,628147
Assists
32nd
2nd
30 767 vs. 2,0951,328
Steals
36th
1st
35 189 vs. 493304
Blocks
2nd
9th
7 476 vs. 284192
Offensive Rebounds
9th
15th
6 505 vs. 44263
Defensive Rebounds
6th
1st
5 1,273 vs. 2,186913
Field Goals Made
2nd
1st
1 2,356 vs. 2,971615
Field Goals Attempted
4th
1st
3 4,422 vs. 5,9841,562
3-Pointers Made
+300th
3rd
+297 0 vs. 480480
3-Pointers Attempted
+300th
2nd
+298 4 vs. 1,4431,439
Free Throws Made
12th
1st
11 1,050 vs. 1,867817
Free Throws Attempted
10th
1st
9 1,419 vs. 2,5191,100

Games and Years:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Games Played
5th
1st
4 237 vs. 29255
Playoffs
3rd
3rd
0 18 vs. 180

Triple-Doubles:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Triple-Doubles
38th
2nd
36 1 vs. 2827

Rankings by Points Scored:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
40+ point games
12th
2nd
10 9 vs. 2920
50+ point games
-
9th
0 vs. 11
60+ point games
-
-
0 vs. 00

Career Per Game Averages,
Regular Season Rankings

Stats Rankings:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Points per game
20th
8th
12 24.61 vs. 27.012.40
Rebounds per game
25th
188th
163 11.18 vs. 7.513.67
Assists per game
296th
25th
271 3.63 vs. 7.423.79
Steals per game
+300th
82nd
+218 0.94 vs. 1.500.57
Blocks per game
8th
267th
259 2.57 vs. 0.741.84
Offensive Rebounds per game
114th
+300th
+186 2.40 vs. 1.151.25
Defensive Rebounds per game
27th
63rd
36 7.58 vs. 6.361.22
Field Goals Made per game
5th
6th
1 10.15 vs. 9.920.24
Field Goals Attempted per game
29th
13th
16 18.15 vs. 19.581.43
3-Pointers Made per game
+300th
132nd
+168 0.00 vs. 1.641.64
3-Pointers Attempted per game
+300th
72nd
+228 0.02 vs. 4.694.66
Free Throws Made per game
100th
34th
66 4.30 vs. 5.541.23
Free Throws Attempted per game
76th
27th
49 5.96 vs. 7.511.55

Career Per Game Averages,
Playoffs Rankings

Stats Rankings:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LeBron James Rk Diff. Values Diff.
Points per game
36th
6th
30 24.31 vs. 28.394.07
Rebounds per game
45th
103rd
58 10.47 vs. 9.001.47
Assists per game
296th
25th
271 3.24 vs. 7.173.94
Steals per game
+300th
37th
+263 0.96 vs. 1.690.72
Blocks per game
9th
164th
155 2.43 vs. 0.971.46
Offensive Rebounds per game
101st
+300th
+199 2.58 vs. 1.511.06
Defensive Rebounds per game
66th
30th
36 6.49 vs. 7.490.99
Field Goals Made per game
14th
10th
4 9.94 vs. 10.170.23
Field Goals Attempted per game
50th
19th
31 18.66 vs. 20.491.83
3-Pointers Made per game
+300th
120th
+180 0.00 vs. 1.641.64
3-Pointers Attempted per game
+300th
95th
+205 0.03 vs. 4.944.92
Free Throws Made per game
116th
22nd
94 4.43 vs. 6.391.96
Free Throws Attempted per game
104th
17th
87 5.99 vs. 8.632.64

Note: the per game rankings on this page respect the minimums usually applied by the NBA for all-time leaders, 400 games for regular season stats unless the player reached these thresholds before: 10,000 points; 4,000 rebounds; 2,000 assists; 625 steals; 500 blocks; 250 3-pointers made. Also 3 minimum games for the Playoffs are applied.