The management of the Lakers does not bode well for James to ever approach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 1,074 regular season wins.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” — Michael Jordan
After the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 94-85 loss to the Boston Celtics in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinal, LeBron James said this about his pending free agency: “I want to win. That’s my only thing, my only concern. It’s all about winning for me, and I think the Cavs is committed to doing that, but at the same time I’ve given myself options to this point.”
The following season he left for Miami.
And no player has won more games since — a run highlighted by a 27-game win streak, eight consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals and four rings. The basketball world is abuzz about James’ next stat: highest-scoring player in the NBA, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Here’s what we’re hearing less about: As of Tuesday morning, James was one victory away from moving into a tie with Dirk Nowitzki for all-time wins in regular season play, at 916 — to trail only five other players in NBA history. At some point next season he’ll probably pass Karl Malone (952) and John Stockton (953). He won’t have a chance to catch up to Tim Duncan (1,001) or Robert Parish (1,014) until the 2024-25 season at the earliest.
The man at the top of the list? The great Abdul-Jabbar himself, of course, with 1,074 wins. (Michael Jordan is not in the top 25, according to Statmuse, in case you were wondering.) So the all-time scoring title may be James’, but the game’s greatest winner has almost 160 victories over him in the regular season.
Prior to coming to Los Angeles, James surpassing Abdul-Jabbar in total wins felt inevitable. Today, not so much.
After a stretch in which his teams won at least 50 games in eight of 10 seasons, the kid from Akron has reached that mark only once in his last four in L.
