LeBron James youngest, but not fastest NBA player to 20,000 points

After 726 career games, LeBron James has joined an elite club of basketball players who have scored 20,000 points in their NBA career.

James needed just 18 points going into his game against the Golden State Warriors to hit the 20,000 point milestone. LeBron hit the mark in the second quarter – making “The King” the youngest player to reach 20,000, but only the 8th fastest player to ever do so (more on that a little later).

First things first, let’s give LBJ the props. At just 28 years and 17 days, Lebron took the mantle of “Youngest NBA player to 20,000 points” by accomplishing that feat 470 days before Kobe Bryant, the previous “youngest.”

Youngest NBA Players to 20,000

We love records and making up records even when they don’t mean much, the whole “youngest to score” is one of these meaningless records. It’s impressive no doubt, but it doesn’t mean much more than for that individual’s talent. Meaning that it’s not something worth comparing to others even though many fans casually use this a measure of greatness against other players.

Youngest NBA Players to 20,000 Points
Rank	Player	Years Old	Days
1	LeBron James	28 years	17 days
2	Kevin Durant	29 years	103 days
3	Kobe Bryant	29 years	122 days
4	Wilt Chamberlain	29 years	134 days
5	Michael Jordan	29 years	326 days
6	Oscar Robertson	30 years	97 days
7	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	30 years	342 days

Removing Age when Comparing Scoring Milestones

Age is great and it’s a nice-looking accomplishment, but as we discussed here and here before – age-related records sound more impressive than they actually are. No matter how you look at it, using age is not a fair comparison.

Players enter the league at different ages – especially when there are minimum age requirements imposed by the league. NBA schedules impact when a player will reach their plateau – meaning if LeBron played Golden State on Tuesday instead of Wednesday night, the record would be different, and let’s not forget about how injuries and shortened seasons affect records based off age; they’re rife with caveats.

If you’re looking for the NBA players that were the “fastest to 20,000 points,” then we need a measure that’s fair. And using games played works well for true apples-to-apples comparisons. In that list, LeBron is 8th all-time, after Jerry West (#7 at 720 games) and beating Shaquille O’Neal by one game (#9 at 727 games).

Including LeBron James, here’s a list of top ten NBA players quickest to 20,000 points.

Player	Games	Date	Season
Wilt Chamberlain	499	1965-66	7th
Michael Jordan	620	January 08 1993	9th
Oscar Robertson	671	1968-69	9th
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	684	1976-77	9th
Elgin Baylor	711	1968-69	11th
Allen Iverson	713	January 23 2007	11th
Jerry West	~720	1970-71	11th
LeBron James	726	Jan 15 2013	10th
Shaquille O’Neal	727	Mar 20 2003	11th
George Gervin	747	Janu 11 1986	10th

See the full list

We’re going to brag a little here: Five years ago, Interbasket predicted LeBron would hit the 20,000 point mark at 730 games – he did it in 726 games — not bad.

Other notable players that have hit the 20,000 plateau include Kevin Garnett (979), Patrick Ewing (845), Dirk Nowitzki (876), Charles Barkley (858), Clyde Drexler (967), and Reggie Miller (1021). See the full list of all 38 players that have reached 20,000 and how many games it took them.