LeBron James is only competing against the future. The Los Angeles Lakers player continues to break individual records and make them unattainable. Just over a year after surpassing Kareem Abdul Jabbar's scoring mark, LeBron James is making history again. He achieved it with a shot full of technique and power to the basket, the combination that has made him an unstoppable player. The play that remains recorded forever is a reverse and a layup on the backboard with the left hand. With this basket, The King reached a stratospheric level: 40,000 points in the NBA regular season.
Fans came to Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers' pavilion, with the certainty of witnessing this historic moment. LeBron scored at least 10 points in 1,205 consecutive games, which was exactly what he needed. The entire ceremony was prepared and there was no long wait. At the start of the second quarter of the game against the Denver Nuggets, at 10:39, the time had come. At the next timeout, the crowd stood to applaud the player as he made his signature gesture and crowned himself with the ball.
LeBron, 39, has scored 40,000 points in 1,475 total games, with an average of more than 27 points. This is his 21st season in the NBA: his sixth with the Lakers after 11 in Cleveland and four in Miami. Furthermore, his consistency throughout his career, in which he has not suffered any major injuries, is impressive. He reached the last 10,000 points in exactly the same number of games (368) in which he reached the first 10,000 points. To go from 10,000 to 20,000 it took 358, and to go from 20,000 to 30,000 it took another 381.
“Being the first player to do something is pretty cool in this league. Just knowing the history, the greats that made the league, and then seeing some of the greats on the field tonight, it was cool to compete,” he said. James at the end of the game. “But for me, as always, the most important thing is to win, and I hate that that had to happen with a loss.” James finished the evening with 26 points (12 of 20 from the field) and nine assists in a 114-124 -Loss to the Nuggets.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone spent five seasons with James as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2010 and still marvels at how he can continue to play at such a high level. “I don’t look at the numbers themselves, but you just have to marvel at the continued greatness,” Malone said.
High expectations
When LeBron James debuted in the NBA, an ad aired that mentioned Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Kobe Bryant and stated that LeBron James would be next on that list. “I didn't see that advert when it happened, but when I saw it today I thought: What the hell? It was crazy to think about that expectation of an 18-year-old boy.”
His record doesn't stop growing. In addition to the 40,000 points that make him the NBA's all-time leading scorer, he was the best player of the regular season four times, the best player in the Finals four times (the four times in which he became champion: 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020) , three times the best performance of the All-Star Game (in which he has played for 20 years, another record). In NBA history, LeBron is second in minutes played, seventh in games played, fourth in assists, eighth in steals and 31st in rebounds. His revolver's previous honor was victory in the inaugural NBA Cup, where he was named the tournament's best player.
There is no active player who even exceeds 30,000 points. The one with the most is Kevin Durant (28,342), who is also in the final stages of his career. For more than a decade, his brand has been completely unattainable. Those coming from behind with a high scoring average, like Luka Dončić, Joel Embiid or Jayson Tatum, would still need to have 13 or 15 more active seasons without injuries at a rate of 25 points per game to reach 40,000 points. French rookie Victor Wembanyama is the fourth fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 points, but as high as the expectations are for him, it would take two decades for him to eclipse the King.
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