LeBron James Reaches 40,000 Career Points in Loss to the Nuggets

The King continues to make history. Last season on February 7th, in a matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James scored his 38,388th point to become the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. Yesterday in the Lakers 124-114 home loss against the Denver Nuggets, LeBron became the first player to score 40,000 career points. While there will always be the goat conversation featuring himself and Michael Jordan, James has undoubtedly been an inspiration for the past 20 years. 

James came into last night’s game needing just nine points to break the record. LeBron drove in a layup at the 10:39 mark in the second quarter to finally reach 40,000 career points. He finished with 26 points on the night during the loss, which makes his career scoring total at 40,017. Los Angeles stands at 33-29, tenth in the Western Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would clinch the final play-in spot within the West. They sit a half game behind the Golden State Warriors and two games behind the Dallas Mavericks. 

LeBron said this week, "No one has ever done it, and for me to be in this position at this point and time in my career, I think it's pretty cool. Does it sit at the top of the things I've done in my career? No. But does it mean something? Of course. Absolutely. Why wouldn't it? To be able to accomplish things in this league, with the greatest players to ever play in this league, the NBA, this has been a dream of mine and to hit feats and have milestones throughout my career, they all mean something to me. Obviously, there's a pecking order of which accomplishments are higher than others, but I would be lying to you if I said it doesn't mean anything because it absolutely does.