LeBron James makes history with 40,000th point in NBA

LeBron James, aka the King, reached a major milestone by becoming the first NBA player to score 40,000 points.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James acknowledges fans after scoring to become the first NBA player to reach 40,000 points in a career during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. / Photo: AP
AP

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James acknowledges fans after scoring to become the first NBA player to reach 40,000 points in a career during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. / Photo: AP

The Los Angeles Lakers’ veteran star LeBron James became the first player to reach 40,000 regular season career points in the NBA.

James dropped the historic point in Sunday's NBA game against the Denver Nuggets, which ended in a 123-114 Nuggets victory at Crypto.com Arena.

"Being the first player to do something, it’s pretty cool in this league, just knowing the history, the greats that’s come through the league and then you see some of the greats on the floor tonight, it was great to compete," James said, "But for me, the main thing, as always, is to win, and I hated that it had to happen in a defeat."

Former Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar placed second in the NBA’s all-time points leaderboard with 38,387 points, while another former Lakers star Karl Malone is placed third with 36,928 points in regular season points in the NBA.

The date March 2 is also significant in NBA history for another reason, in 1962, late basketball superstar Wilt Chamberlain managed to drop 100 points — still standing strong today in NBA — in a regular season match.

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