Who passed Kobe Bryant as the leading scorer in NBA All Star history?

LeBron James passed Kobe Bryant as the leading scorer in NBA All-Star Game history during the 2016 All-Star Game. James entered the contest just behind Bryant and moved ahead with a first-quarter basket, becoming the game’s all-time points leader.

Bryant had taken the record from Michael Jordan in 2012, continuing a tradition of elite scorers holding the All-Star mark. James eventually surpassed Bryant while representing the Cleveland Cavaliers, years before returning to the top of several other major NBA scoring lists.

A common mix-up is confusing All-Star Game scoring with regular-season career scoring. James passed Bryant on the regular-season scoring list in 2020, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the player James eventually overtook for the regular-season record in 2023. The All-Star record is based only on points scored in the league’s annual showcase game, not playoff or regular-season totals.

James has continued adding to the record through later All-Star appearances, making the gap difficult for active players to close. Bryant remains one of the event’s most prolific performers and earned four All-Star Game MVP awards, while James has also won the award multiple times.