LeBron expresses his gratitude for being in the same conversation as Dirk Nowitzki and Shaquille O'Neal after moving up to sixth on the career scoring list. (0:42)

SAN ANTONIO -- Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James passed Dirk Nowitzki for sixth place on the career scoring list Saturday night, and Nowitzki thinks James will end up as the greatest scorer ever to play the game.

"If he stays healthy, the way he's looking and moving, he has a chance at Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]," Nowitzki told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "His numbers have been unbelievable. He doesn't seem to slow down. The stuff he was doing last year in Year 15 was incredible. If he keeps this up, he can pass Kareem."

James entered Saturday with 31,167 career points, needing 21 to pass Nowitzki and become the game's active leader in points scored. Nowitzki is currently sidelined with a left ankle injury, which means James has likely passed him for good.

James got his 21st point on a 17-foot jumper from the right wing with 7:51 left in the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs. He finished with a season-high 35 points, putting his career total at 31,202, but the Lakers fell 110-106.

It was James' 432nd career 30-point game, passing Kobe Bryant for fourth on that list.

James passed Shaquille O'Neal for sixth on the career field goals list in the third quarter. O'Neal had 11,330 in his 19-year career. After going 13-for-21 from the field Saturday night, James has 11,339 made field goals.

"Guys that I've played against, played with, watched before I even got to the league, admired, was in awe of," James said of O'Neal and Nowitzki after the game. "Dirk's always been one of my favorite players, and I think Shaq is the most dominant player to ever play this game. So for me to be in the same conversation with those guys in anything that we're talking about as far as basketball, it's a tribute.

"As far as being humble and knowing where I come from, being from Akron, Ohio, a small town that most African-American kids don't make it out of. So anytime I'm able to do something like that, I give it all back to my hometown and the kids that are just like me."