LeBron James: Career stats, records, awards and medals of US basketball superstar

From winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals to becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, we take a look at some of the most notable highlights from LeBron James’ storied basketball career.

LeBron James is now the leading scorer in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The 38-year-old overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s previous record of 38,387 points in the LA Lakers’ defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday 7 February.

It’s the latest, and arguably greatest, accolade in a glittering career for ‘King James’ – a fitting moniker for a player who continues to have a powerful impact on the game of basketball.

Olympics.com takes a look at the championships, medals, records and stats of one of basketball’s most legendary players.

The fact that James was selected first overall in the 2003 NBA draft straight out of high school should tell you everything you need to know about just how great his playing career at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School was.

In fact, the small college preparatory Catholic high school in Akron, Ohio has become famous thanks to the exploits of its most famous alumnus.

James made his high school debut as a 14-year-old freshman in 1999, and his play soon garnered national attention; several of James’ games were televised nationally during his senior year, and many of the Fighting Irish’s games were moved to the University of Akron to accommodate the crowds that wanted to see him play.

A phenomenal athlete, James picked up numerous honours en route to leading St. Vincent–St. Mary to three state championships in four years, during which time the Fighting Irish only lost six games (James had a 101-6 high school record)!

James was heavily touted as a future NBA star while still in high school, and his decision to forgo college and declare for the NBA draft made the draft lottery in 2003 one of the most anticipated in years.

As fate would have it, the Cleveland Cavaliers, James’ hometown team, ended up winning the lottery and duly selected the Ohio native with the first overall pick – and what a selection that turned out to be.

In his first career game, the 18-year-old phenom scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out nine assists in a losing effort to the Sacramento Kings – but it was just a taste of things to come. At the conclusion of the 2003–04 season, James became the first Cavalier to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and was nominated to the All-Rookie First Team.

Though James had already lived up to his potential in the first phase of his NBA career, a championship still eluded him. In 2010, the then 26-year-old unrestricted free agent signed with the Miami Heat, joining fellow Olympians Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Florida.

In his first season with the Heat, James reached the NBA Finals, though Miami would lose to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

James was vilified for his performance in those Finals (he averaged only three points in fourth quarters during the series), but returned to the 2011-12 season with a bang. The 2.06m (6 ft 9 in) forward posted averages of 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.9 steals per game on 53 per cent shooting to earn his third regular season MVP and help the Heat return to the Finals, where they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. James was unanimously voted the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player with averages of 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game as he won his first career NBA title.

In June of 2014, James opted out of his contract with the Heat, electing instead to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his first season back with the Cavaliers, James helped Cleveland return to the Finals, making him the first player since the 1960s to play in five consecutive NBA Finals.

Despite averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists in the Finals, James was unable to stop the Golden State Warriors from winning the championship in six games. The following season, however, James and co. would return to the Finals for a rematch with the Warriors. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, the Cavaliers were able to win the next two games thanks to a superhuman effort from James (who recorded back-to-back 41-point games in Games 5 and 6) to force a decisive Game 7 in Oakland, California. Undeterred by a boisterous away crowd, James became just the third player to record a triple-double in an NBA Finals Game 7 as he helped the Cavaliers simultaneously win Cleveland’s first professional sports title in 52 years and become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3–1 series deficit in the Finals.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2018, James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He suffered a groin injury in his first season with the Lakers that caused him to miss 17 consecutive games, and consequently, the Lakers failed to make the postseason (marking the first time James missed the playoffs since 2005).

The following season the Lakers emerged as a force in the Western Conference behind the play of James and Anthony Davis, who the team had acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans in a major trade in the offseason. Los Angeles would enter the playoffs as the number one seed in the West, and advanced to the Finals in convincing fashion, suffering only three losses in the previous three rounds combined. In the Finals, the Lakers beat the Heat in six games to earn James, who averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game during the series, his fourth NBA championship and fourth Finals MVP award. James also became the second-oldest player in league history to win the award (at 35 and 287 days old), and the third player in NBA history to win at least one championship with three different teams.

Fresh off his rookie season in the NBA, James was selected to represent the United States of America (USA) at the Olympic Games Athens 2004. He received limited playing time (14.6 minutes per game), averaging 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in eight games as Team USA won the bronze medal – becoming the first U.S. basketball team to fail to win a gold medal since adding active NBA players to their lineup.

James returned to play for Team USA at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, as the USA won another bronze medal. At the FIBA Americas Championship 2007 – an Olympic qualifying event for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 – James averaged 18.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists as the USA won the gold medal with a 10-0 record, thereby qualifying for the Olympic Games.

At Beijing 2008, Team USA’s ‘Redeem Team’ went unbeaten to win a first gold medal since Sydney 2000.

James would represent the USA at a major tournament for the final time at London 2012, where he recorded the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic basketball history with a 1-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist effort against Australia. The USA would repeat as Olympic champions, and James joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win an NBA MVP award, NBA championship, NBA Finals MVP, and Olympic gold medal in the same year.

Achievements are current as of the end of the 2022 NBA season. This is by no means the definitive list of all of James’ achievements, which are extensive.