LeBron James, on Saturday, March 2, 2024, became the first NBA player to reach 40,000 career regular-season points, scoring nine against defending champion Denver to achieve the milestone.
The historic effort however came in a losing cause as Nikola Jokic scored 35 points to rally the Nuggets late for a 124-114 victory over the Lakers, stretching their win streak to six games.
James, who just over a year ago overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s all-time scoring mark, is a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player as well as the league’s oldest active player, now in his 21st campaign.
After scoring five points in the first quarter, James sank a layup 14 seconds into the second quarter to pull within two of the milestone, then missed a free throw and on the next Laker possession missed a 3-point shot.
The 39-year-old superstar scored the historic basket with 10:39 remaining in the second quarter, banking in a driving layup from the left side of the basket to give the Lakers a 37-32 lead.
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The crowd gave James a standing ovation after he made the basket. The ball James used to score the milestone hoop was removed from the game, but with the replacement he added a layup late in the period on the way to the Lakers seizing a 66-58 half-time lead.
James scored his first basket of the game on a fast break layup 6:20 into the opening quarter to give the Lakers an 18-12 edge, then added a 3-pointer from the left corner 63 seconds later for a 23-14 advantage.
In anticipation of reaching the milestone, James said it won’t rank among his greatest feats but the 40,000-point mark is meaningful.
He said: “No one has done it. And for me to be in this position at this point and time in my career, I think it’s pretty cool.
“Is it one of the top things I’ve done in my career? No. Does it mean something? Of course. Why wouldn’t it?
“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 I would be lying to you if I said no, it doesn’t mean anything. It absolutely does.”
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