Karl Malone holds the second spot with 4,524 turnovers and is in second position.
LeBron James is now ranked first on a variety of different all-time lists. Last year, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time best scorer in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Later on in the season, he will almost certainly make history by becoming the first player in NBA annals to be named to 20 different All-Star Games. At the moment, he has the fourth spot all-time in assists and the fifth spot all-time in triple-doubles. Simply choose any statistic, and James has very certainly already established a record for some aspect of it.
Sadly, not all of the statistics point in a positive direction. James was destined to break some records for all the wrong reasons simply by virtue of the fact that he has been around and has had possession of the ball so much. James surpassed Karl Malone in career turnovers in 2021 when he committed his 4,525th one at that point in his career. Since then, he has surpassed Malone and the rest of the field in his performance. James set a new milestone in the history of turnovers on Friday when he played against the Phoenix Suns. This new benchmark will be incredibly difficult for anybody to surpass, since James committed his 5,000th turnover during this game. The decisive play occurred in the second quarter when Grayson Allen made the following steal:
Are these turnovers particularly significant in any way? To put it in perspective, the answer is no. All fifteen of the players that occupy the top spots on the all-time turnover leaderboard are already in or will soon be inducted into the Hall of Fame. It makes perfect sense. To turn the ball over this frequently requires a significant amount of possession of the ball, which in turn requires a significant amount of time spent participating in the league. There are a number of legendary passers who are ranked among the top 15 in turnovers, including John Stockton (No. 5), Jason Kidd (No. 7), and Magic Johnson (No. 15). When you have the ball as frequently as they did, it is inevitable that you will turn it over more often than guys who don’t have the same level of opportunity as you do.
Is it possible that James’ record may be surpassed? Perhaps in the long run, but given that he is still playing, it is probably safe for the time being. Westbrook will almost certainly surpass Malone at some point during this season; yet, taking into account the trend of his career, it is possible that he may not have the chance to hit 5,000 points as James has. James Harden, who has 3,741 turnovers, is in a position not dissimilar to that of Chris Paul. After those three active players, the next person on the list with 3,154 lifetime turnovers is Kevin Durant, who is ranked all the way down at number 28.James is presumably not overly pleased with his performance on this record. Because he has so many others, fortunately, it is easy to forget about this one.
Nevertheless, it might be considered a badge of honor in many different contexts. In the history of the NBA, there has never been a player who has had the ball enough to have turned it over 5,000 times. It is, if nothing else, a monument to James’ longevity as well as the immense workload he has carried inside every offense he has ever played on. James has been a basketball player for more than 20 years.
