Some guys age, but LeBron James just adds numbers to his name. James made NBA history on March 4, becoming the first player to reach 50,000 career regular season and playoff points during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 136-115 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
James entered the game needing only one point after coming close in his prior performance against the Clippers. James passed the 50,000 mark with a 3-pointer early in the first quarter, shooting over Zion Williamson from a pass from Luka Dončić to put the Lakers up 13-6 with 8:34 remaining in the quarter. Lakers fans gave a standing ovation moments later acknowledging his achievement.
James finished the night with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Pelicans’ Williamson (37 points) and Trey Murphy III (19 points) kept it competitive, but the Lakers pulled away later in the game.
“It’s a hell of a lot of points, and I’m super blessed to be able to put that many points up in the best league in the world with the best players in the world over my career,” James told Spectrum SportsNet in an on-court interview after the game. “It’s pretty special.”
Two seasons ago, James became the all-time leading scorer in the regular season, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who previously held the record with 38,387 career points for 39 years. Most people thought that Abdul-Jabbar’s record would stand alone forever. Now 50,000 points is another benchmark in his legendary career, one that feels almost mythical, one that feels like it could only happen in a video game.
To put it in perspective, if a player averaged 25 points per game for 20 straight seasons without missing a single game, they would still fall short of James' total. The volume of scoring is staggering, an honor not just to his raw talent but to his discipline, adaptability, and longevity. This record will not only stand longer than the all-time scoring record, but will take someone to play longer than James to even come close to.
The magnitude of this historic achievement is something I am still trying to comprehend. Being able to score 50,000 points at the age of 40 isn’t purely just skill, but required consistent scoring dominance for the last 22 seasons. Father Time has yet to find an answer for this relentlessness the King has shown.
“It’s amazing,” Dončić said of James. “Watching him do this stuff at this age, it’s just unbelievable. Like, 50K points, I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might get to 70K, you never know.”
James' 50,000th point was the highlight of a dominant performance by the Lakers, continuing their winning streak to seven at the time, and now stands at eight wins from the team’s last 10 games.
The veteran reached this milestone hours after being named Western Conference Player of the Month for February, averaging 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game and helping the Lakers improve to 10-2 during February. Their chemistry continues to build, and the team has developed a balanced attack on both ends of the floor, making them a legitimate threat in the postseason.
At 40 years old, in his 22nd season, James continues to fight Father Time and defy the limitations of playing professional basketball. The NBA may see more players chase these achievements as careers lengthen, but James’ historic mark stands alone for now, potentially sparking a trend among future stars to keep playing longer in their career.
With the playoffs soon approaching, the Lakers are starting to find their rhythm, who are now in second place in the Western Conference with the help of James and Dončić being the driving force behind their success.
Since James is out here dropping 40 points like it’s 2020, I think the question everyone wants to know is how long will he stay on the NBA throne?