With a 21-foot jump shot with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, James surpassed Kareem's 38,387 career points to move into the No. 1 spot on the league's all-time scoring list Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers lost to the Thunder 130-133 though.
After the record-breaking shot, James raised both hands into the air as he looked skyward. Photographers quickly circled him on the court, as chants of "MVP, MVP" rained down from the crowd at Crypto.com Arena.
The game was stopped as some members of James' family, including his wife, mother and his three children, took the floor for a ceremony recognizing the moment. The Lakers played a video filled with highlights of James' career on the arena video board, after which commissioner Adam Silver and Abdul-Jabbar joined James at center court.
"A record that has stood for nearly 40 years," Silver said. "Many people thought it would never be broken. LeBron, you are the NBA's all-time scoring leader. Congratulations."
Abdul-Jabbar then handed James a basketball, as the two posed for photos before James took the microphone to address the crowd.
"I just wanna say thank you to the Laker faithful. You guys are one of a kind. To be able to be in the presence of such a legend as great as Kareem, it means so much to me. It's very humbling," James said.
"Please give a standing ovation to the captain, please ... To my beautiful wife, my daughter, my two boys, my friends ... man, everybody that's ever been a part of this run with me the last 20 years -- 20-plus years -- I just wanna say I thank you so much 'cause I wouldn't be me without y'all.
"And to the NBA, to Adam Silver, to the late, great David Stern, I thank you guys so much for allowing me to be a part of something I've always dreamed about. And I would never, ever in a million years dreamt this even better than what it is tonight."
James entered the game with 38,352 points, needing 36 on the night to overtake Abdul-Jabbar.
Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 points in his 20-year career with the Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. His career scoring record had stood since April 5, 1984. LeBron James, 38, was born about nine months later.
James is one of seven players to score 30,000 career points and the youngest in NBA history to do it.
As the youngest player ever to score each thousand-point milestone from 1,000 to 38,000 in league history, James, who came into Tuesday's game averaging 30.0 points this season, is also the oldest player to ever average 30 points per game.