LeBron James’ legacy just keeps growing — he is now the founding member of the NBA’s 40,000-point club.
Saturday night he reached the kind of milestone that will stand for years and inspire a generation of players. With a spinning layup past Denver’s Michael Porter Jr., LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to reach 40,000 career points.
LeBron James scores the bucket to become the first player in league history to score 40,000 career points 👑
— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2024
DEN-LAL Live on ABC pic.twitter.com/I84Xd5hiWf
It feels appropriate that LeBron got to the milestone on a drive to the rim, rather than a 3-pointer (as he has missed the previous possession) or on another kind of bucket.
Last season, LeBron moved past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer but has kept adding to that gap this season averaging 25.2 points, 7.9 assists and 7.1 rebounds a game with an impressive 61.6 true shooting percentage. LeBron was both humbled by his approach to the 40,000 miles stone and wanted to take it in stride, speaking to reporters after the previous Laker game (when he was nine points short of the milestone).
“No one has ever done it. And for me to be in this position at this point and time in my career, I think it’s pretty cool. Does it sit at the top of the things I’ve done in my career? No. But does it mean something? Of course. Absolutely. Why wouldn’t it?
“To be able to accomplish things in this league, with the greatest players to ever play in this league, the NBA, this has been a dream of mine and to hit feats and have milestones throughout my career, they all mean something to me. Absolutely. Obviously, there’s a pecking order of which ones are higher than others, but absolutely. I would be lying to you if I said it doesn’t mean anything. Because it absolutely does.”
40,000 pic.twitter.com/3gyE7qccL2
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 3, 2024
It meant something to the Lakers fans at Crypto.com Arena who exploded when it happened and then acknowledged him during a timeout that soon followed. It’s something they will remember for a long time.
It’s something future generations of future hoopers will be chasing forever.
Numbers don’t lie.
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) March 3, 2024
Yet again, @kingjames has rewritten the equation for greatness: 40k points, 10k assists, 10k rebounds. Truly one of one. #WeAreAllWitnesses pic.twitter.com/GuucylJI27
