LeBron James: 40k point mark almost unbreakable

By
Bill Eshun
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It was the second quarter of Los Angeles Lakers against current NBA Champions Denver Nuggets at the Crypto.com arena.

LeBron James had the basketball just behind the three-point line with Michael Porter Jnr right in his face. Fans were on their feet with their phones in hand, waiting to capture a big moment.

The 39-year-old sized up his opponent, calculating his next move. A few moments later, the man from Akron spun expertly past Porter and performed his signature left-handed layup.

The basket was his 40,000th, a feat never achieved before. Unsurprisingly, all participants in the match gave him a standing ovation, and the ball he scored with was removed from the game.

“No one has done it,” James said after the match came to an end with the Lakers tasting defeat.

“And for me to be in this position at this point and time in my career, I think it’s pretty cool. But is it one of the top things I’ve done in my career? No. Does it mean something? Of course. Why wouldn’t it?”

LeBron, this is more than cool. It is nothing short of sensational. In 2003, James entered the league as a 19-year-old with so much expectation. He was the first high school player at the time to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. On the cover, he was dubbed as ‘The Chosen One’, a player many expected to be the face of the league and a future hall of famer.

It’s fair to say that he’s done that and more. At Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008, he became the youngest to 10,000 points. Five years later, he got to 20,000 and once again, he was the youngest to do so. In 2018, he did it again, getting to 30,000 points in the quickest possible time.

But not many believed he would become the record points holder in the NBA. At the time, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (38,387) had held the record since 1984. This changed on February 7, 2023, when the former Miami Heat forward hit a fadeaway with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter with Kareem watching and waiting in the crowd to hand over the torch (ball).

“Wow, never in my lifetime did I think I would see two NBA athletes score over 38,000 points! I still remember when my Showtime teammate, the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, broke the record. It was an honour to be the guy to pass it to him and cement his legacy!,” Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, a five-time NBA title winner, said on social media.

4,890 players have taken the court since the NBA began in 1947 but only seven, including LeBron James himself have hit 30,000 points or more representing a measly 0.14%.

Now LeBron stands alone at the 40,000-point mark, all while averaging a highly respectable 25.3 points per game this season (14th highest) in his 21st season in the NBA.

He averages 27.1 points in his career whilst averaging 70 games in an 82-game season. For another player to surpass this, he would have to average more than 27 points for at least 70 games a season for 21 years. This is nearly impossible.

To some fans, Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time, the only man to win all six NBA finals matchups. But the truth is, Jordan averaged eight points a game in his 15th season. What anyone cannot deny is LeBron’s longevity.

And he does not look like a man slowing down. He’s still chasing records. Maybe when he finally retires, he’ll win two more rings to match Jordan. But no one would forget his points mark anytime soon.