LeBron James becomes third-highest all-time career scorer surpassing Kobe Bryant

James has now scored a total of 33,645 points in his career.

Lakers superstar LeBron James made a career milestone on Saturday night in the Lakers' 108-91 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers. James scored more than 18 points to reach a career total of 33,645 points, which is enough to surpass Kobe Bryant as the NBA's third all-time leading scorer.

Ending the game with 29 points, he now looks forward to being the top scorer of all-time in basketball's premier league. Second place belongs to Karl Malone with 36,928 points, and the top spot belongs to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387. Both players are retired.

According to CBS Sports, If LeBron James continues to average 27.1 points a game, he would need 122 games or two seasons to pass Malone and 173 games or three seasons to pass Abdul-Jabbar to clinch the all-time record title.

Assuming he doesn't get injured, it seems King James is on his way to NBA glory. He is only in his 17th season compared to Bryant's 20th. Both players were drafted into the NBA straight out of High School. LeBron is now 35 years old. That's advanced for an NBA player, but not too old. Bryant retired at 34 after suffering a career-ending injury two seasons before his retirement.

When he suffered from a torn Achilles tendon, Bryant was sidelined for months. Aware that his age will prevent him from healing properly, he announced that if he is unable to return to top form, he will not burden his team, the fans, and the NBA as a whole by not "playing as Kobe," and retire. He did just that.

Karl Malone retired at the age of 39. He kept playing past his prime, looking for a championship ring. Malone had two-championship appearances during the late 1990s, both of which they lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. In his final season, he moved to the Los Angeles Lakers with Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and Gary Payton, another player with no championship ring (at the time) because of Michael Jordan. Payton got a ring in 2006 playing for the Miami Heat with O'Neal and a young Dwayne Wade.

Top Placer Abdul-Jabbar retired at the age of 42. He also played 20 seasons in the NBA.

LeBron James still has a couple of years left in his body to beat the record. Interestingly enough, all four players played for the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of their career.