2025-26 NBA Season Opens With Major Records in Sight
2025-26-nba-season-records-milestones
The NBA’s 80th campaign begins Oct. 21, and several marquee names enter opening night on the brink of historic benchmarks.
LeBron James targets more firsts
Now 40 and heading into his 23rd season, LeBron James sits 350 made field goals shy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career record of 15,837. James has produced at least 400 baskets every year and finished 2024-25 with 651, positioning him to claim the mark early in 2026.
The Los Angeles Lakers star needs two made three-pointers to surpass Reggie Miller for sixth all time and 50 appearances to overtake Robert Parish for the most regular-season games played. By suiting up this fall, James will also move past Vince Carter for the longest career in league history.
Durant and Harden climb the scoring ladder
Kevin Durant, traded to the Houston Rockets in July’s seven-team blockbuster, is 849 points from passing Wilt Chamberlain for seventh on the all-time scoring list. Durant has topped 1,000 points in every season in which he played more than 35 games.
James Harden is within 603 points of Carmelo Anthony for 10th place and 910 of Shaquille O’Neal for ninth. The guard has exceeded 910 points every season except his rookie year.
Assist milestones within reach
Harden, 13th in career assists, needs 746 to leapfrog Andre Miller for 12th; he has reached that figure twice. Russell Westbrook, currently eighth with 9,925, requires 75 assists to become the eighth player to reach 10,000 and 411 to pass Magic Johnson, Mark Jackson and Steve Nash for fifth.
James remains part of that chase as well, sitting 508 assists behind Jason Kidd for third place.
Three-point record watch
Stephen Curry is 292 combined regular-season and playoff threes away from becoming the first player to make 5,000. He sank 311 during last year’s regular season.
Klay Thompson needs 108 threes to move past Damian Lillard for fourth on the all-time list and 277 to overtake Ray Allen for third. Paul George is 102 triples short of Kyle Korver for eighth.
Triple-double trackers
Nikola Jokic, who posted an NBA-record 30-20-20 triple-double last season, is 18 away from passing Oscar Robertson’s 181 for second all time. Reaching 22 would also make him the second player to log 200, trailing only Westbrook’s 203.
Luka Doncic is 18 triple-doubles from becoming the seventh player with 100 and needs 26 to surpass Jason Kidd for sixth place.
Coaching victories
Doc Rivers begins his 26th year on the bench 14 wins behind George Karl for sixth in coaching victories. A 49-win season would push him past Pat Riley for fifth, while 60 victories would move him ahead of Jerry Sloan for fourth.
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle is 50 wins away from overtaking Rick Adelman for 10th on the coaching list.
With the new season set to unfold, these pursuits promise an additional layer of intrigue to the NBA’s 80th anniversary schedule.
Source: ESPN
