LeBron James added another milestone to his legendary career Thursday night, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most regular season minutes in NBA history during the Lakers’ 113-100 victory over Sacramento.
James played 34 minutes in the win, pushing his career total to 57,471 minutes – surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 57,446. The record comes less than a year after James overtook Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
“Just trying to be available to my teammates when I’m out on the floor,” James said in the postgame press conference after posting 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists in his second game back from a brief rest period.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) smiles at the team bench.
Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
The Lakers (15-12) controlled the game behind Anthony Davis’ dominant 21-point, 20-rebound performance and Austin Reaves’ season-high 35 points. D’Angelo Russell added 16 points as Los Angeles won for the third time in four games.
This record highlights James’ remarkable durability across 21 seasons. While Abdul-Jabbar was himself a model of consistency – playing in 1,560 of a possible 1,640 regular season games – James continues rewriting the record books at age 39.
More milestones could fall soon. James sits just 18 games behind Abdul-Jabbar’s record for combined regular season and playoff games (1,797). However, comparing eras remains difficult given modern advances in sports science and load management.
“The way the league approaches player health now is completely different,” one NBA executive noted. “What both achieved in their respective eras is remarkable, but the contexts aren’t quite the same.”
For now, James can celebrate another record while keeping the Lakers in the Western Conference playoff picture. The question isn’t if he’ll break more records – it’s whether any will be left for other Lakers legends once he’s done.
