LeBron James hit yet another major individual career milestone on Saturday when he became the first NBA player to ever score 40,000 career points. He did so early in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ nationally televised contest against the Denver Nuggets.
James continues to play at a high level in his 21st pro season. He scored an efficient 26 points to go along with nine assists on Saturday, and on the season, he’s averaging 25.3 points, 7.9 assists and 7.0 rebounds a game while shooting 52.7% from the field and 40.8% from 3-point range.
Unfortunately, the occasion was damped by the fact that the Lakers lost 124-114 to the defending world champs. But still, fans on Twitter couldn’t help but give James his flowers.
This is what 40,000 points looks like. Congrats, LeBron. pic.twitter.com/yx8xvbmtnE
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) March 3, 2024
Lakers' LeBron James is the first NBA player to score 40,000 points.
James scored his first 10,000 points in the exact same number of games as it took him to go from 30,000 to 40,000
– 10K in 368 games
– 10K to 20K in 358 games
– 20K to 30K in 381 games
– 30K to 40K in 368 games pic.twitter.com/mw5nkSizyy— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 3, 2024
I did my part helping LeBron get to 40,000 points 😂 pic.twitter.com/GRt9die24R
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) March 3, 2024
The James family reacts to LeBron reaching the 40,000 points mark 🫶pic.twitter.com/TrJXAnvYJU
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 3, 2024
CONGRATS, LEBRON, FOR 40,000 POINTS.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 3, 2024
For LeBron, 40,000 is an astonishing longevity achievement. No career-threatening injuries/surgeries. Revolutionary commitment to nutrition/supplements/fitness. Love for hooping remains all-time high. He has now played 15,000 more minutes than Jordan did. Just incredible.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 3, 2024
The Lakers video tribute to LeBron James that played after he was presented the game ball during a timeout after becoming the first player in league history to reach 40,000 points. pic.twitter.com/DLZygRusAY
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 3, 2024
Numbers don’t lie.
Yet again, @kingjames has rewritten the equation for greatness: 40k points, 10k assists, 10k rebounds. Truly one of one. #WeAreAllWitnesses pic.twitter.com/GuucylJI27
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) March 3, 2024
All hate aside, LeBron was the most hyped NBA prospect of all time. At 18 years old he came into the league and in game 1 he belonged. Somehow he lived up to the hype and maybe even surpassed it. Congrats to passing 40,000 points, what an INSANE accomplishment.
Respect 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ljrAYeP8ng
— Jacob (@Jacobtheclipper) March 3, 2024
To show just how insane LeBron’s 40,000 point record is,
If an NBA Player played all 82 games for 20 straight seasons, and averaged 24 points per game every game, they still wouldn’t have enough points to reach LeBron
— 🧙🏾♂️🧣 (@Precision80) March 3, 2024
