LeBron James passes Malone for second place on NBA all-time scoring list

Basketball star LeBron James' climb up the NBA's all-time scoring list continues, and now there's just one name above him.

James passed Karl Malone for second place in career points Saturday night during the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Washington Wizards. James entered the game with 36,909 points, 19 behind Malone, and he took care of the milestone early.

After scoring six points in the first quarter, James came out firing in the second. He scored the Lakers' first 15 points of the quarter to pass Malone. James hit a cutting layup on a feed from Stanley Johnson at the 5:20 mark to give him 36,929 points, one better than Malone. James finished the first half with 23 points.

James now trails only legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time list. Abdul-Jabbar has been the NBA's scoring king since 1984 and finished his 20-year career with 38,387 points.

Moments later, play was stopped for a foul on the Washington end of the court, and James' milestone was displayed on the video board at Capital One Arena. The crowd responded with a standing ovation that James acknowledged with a wave. Wizards guard and former Lakers teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came over for a hug.

In his 19th season, James is averaging 29.7 points per game, third in the league and tied for the third-highest average of his career. He is just behind Joel Embiid (30.0) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.8) in the scoring race. At 37, James would be the oldest scoring champion in NBA history, passing Michael Jordan, who was 35 when he won the last of his record 10 scoring titles in 1998.

While the Lakers have struggled in the standings, James has hit multiple career statistical milestones this season. He grabbed his 10,000th career rebound in January and handed out his 10,000th assist last Sunday.

James is the only player in NBA history with over 30,000 career points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.