NBA 2025-26 Season: Records and Historical Figures in Sight
The 2025-26 NBA season promises to be an unforgettable spectacle, with the ball bouncing on October 21st and anticipating a campaign full of historic moments, emerging stars, and records to be broken. As the league prepares for its 80th season, several key figures have impressive milestones within reach.
Veterans like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Nikola Jokic will seek to climb the statistical charts, solidifying their names in NBA history. What other incredible achievements could be reached and how close are these superstars to achieving them? We analyze the most outstanding statistics to follow in the 2025-26 season, where some players will strengthen their dominance and others will join the elite Top 10.LeBron James: A King in Search of New HeightsIn December 2024, James made history by becoming the first NBA player to compete both as a teenager and at 40 years old. Furthermore, alongside his son Bronny, they formed the first father-son duo to play in the league, after Bronny was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 draft. Now, LeBron, the all-time leading scorer, will seek to raise the bar even higher.
James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in 2023, and this season, he has the opportunity to surpass Abdul-Jabbar in field goals made. Only 350 field goals away from Abdul-Jabbar’s record (15,837), “The King”, who has made at least 400 field goals each season, is very likely to surpass the Lakers legend again.LeBron James, in his 23rd season in the NBA, will surpass Vince Carter for the most seasons played in the league. Furthermore, if he stays healthy, he is only 50 games away from surpassing Robert Parish for the most regular season games played in NBA history. He could also surpass Reggie Miller on the three-point shots list in the opening game of the 2025-26 season against the Golden State Warriors, being only two three-pointers away from the mark.Rising Veterans on the Scorers’ TableDurant was one of the most prominent names in the offseason movements, after being traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets in early July. In his 17th season and with his fifth NBA team, Durant could be one of those who achieves the most milestones, being 849 points away from surpassing Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA’s scoring list. If he doesn’t suffer injuries, Durant could reach this mark, as he has exceeded 1,000 points in all seasons in which he has played more than 35 games.
James Harden, Durant’s former teammate on the Oklahoma City Thunder, could also climb the scoring list. “The Beard” is only 603 points away from surpassing Carmelo Anthony for tenth place and 910 from surpassing Shaquille O’Neal for ninth. Harden has scored at least 910 points in every season of his career except his rookie year, and he doubled that mark last season, playing on one of the league’s most veteran teams, the LA Clippers.Leaders in Assistance: A Path to TravelHarden has a bigger challenge in the assists category, as he is 746 away from moving up the historical list, currently holding the 13th position. He will have to surpass Andre Miller (8,524), Gary Payton (8,966), and Isiah Thomas (9,061) to reach the top 10, and he has only reached the 746 assists mark in a single season twice in his career. It is more likely that he can move up to 12th place, surpassing Miller, this season.
His former teammate, Russell Westbrook, currently ranks eighth on the all-time list (9,925) and could become the eighth player in NBA history to reach 10,000 assists this season. If he finds a team this season, Westbrook could also climb this list, surpassing Magic Johnson, Mark Jackson, and Steve Nash for fifth place. He is only 411 assists away from joining Chris Paul and LeBron James in the top 5, having recorded 457 assists last season with the Nuggets.
However, Westbrook will have a moving target, as James will also advance on the assists list. He is only 508 assists away from surpassing Jason Kidd for third place, and he has reached that mark in each of the last two seasons, so he is expected to achieve this milestone this season if James avoids injuries.From the Triple: Precision at a DistanceStephen Curry should continue to shine in his 17th season with the Warriors. Curry is 292 three-pointers (regular season and playoffs combined) away from becoming the first player with 5,000 three-pointers. But we may not see this mark until later in the season, as he scored 311 three-pointers in the regular season and 357 the previous season.Curry’s former teammate, Klay Thompson, is 108 three-pointers away from surpassing Damian Lillard for fourth place on the all-time three-pointers list. With Lillard out for the season, Thompson will likely reach this mark if he stays healthy, as he scored 216 in his first full season with the Dallas Mavericks. He could move up to third place, but would need 277 three-pointers to surpass Ray Allen, a mark he only reached once in his career (2022-23).
The health of Paul George and the Philadelphia 76ers is also a big unknown this season. George, who is now starting his 16th season, is 102 three-pointers away from surpassing Kyle Korver for eighth place on the all-time list. In his last season with the Clippers, when he was fully healthy, he scored 243 three-pointers during the regular season and could do it again if he manages to stay on the court.Triple-Double ConquerorsLast season, three-time MVP Jokic set an NBA record by recording the league’s first 30-20-20 triple-double, in addition to leading the league with 34 total triple-doubles on the season. This season, the Nuggets’ triple-double master is only 18 away from surpassing Oscar Robertson (181) for second place in NBA history, behind Russell Westbrook (203). As the Nuggets try to maximize their championship window, it’s not far-fetched for Jokic to reach that mark and become the second player in NBA history to reach 200.Lakers superstar Luka Doncic can also continue his rise up the list. Doncic is 18 triple-doubles away from becoming the seventh player with 100 career triple-doubles. Doncic, 26, is also 26 triple-doubles away from surpassing his former Mavericks coach Jason Kidd for sixth place on the all-time list.Let History SpeakRecognitions don’t usually come in the form of records, but two veteran coaches, Doc Rivers and Rick Carlisle, can make history this season on the all-time wins list. Rivers, who is starting his 26th season as an NBA coach, is only 14 wins away from surpassing George Karl for sixth place on the list. However, after the Milwaukee Bucks traded Damian Lillard to the Portland Trail Blazers as the team looks to maximize its championship window with Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s not clear how this season could unfold. If the Bucks achieve an outstanding performance, Rivers is 49 wins away from surpassing Pat Riley for fifth place and 60 wins away from surpassing Jerry Sloan for fourth.
Carlisle, fresh off an appearance in the Finals, is 50 wins away from surpassing Rick Adelman to reach the top 10 on the all-time list.
