LeBron James became the first NBA player to reach 40,000 points in the game that the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the current champions of the league, the Denver Nuggets. The angeleno star needed only 9 points to reach the figure, and he achieved the milestone at 13:19 minutes, in the second quarter. The 26 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds with which he finished the game did not serve to take away the taste of defeat, as he acknowledged at the end of the game.
FIRST & ONLY👑 #ScoringKing pic.twitter.com/3lPfRpUhC8
— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2024
A historic basket entry
The new record was set by a remarkable drive to the basket by the Angeleno wearing number 23, who outmaneuvered Michael Porter Jr. who will also go down in history for being the player portrayed in the historic play by James.
The #ScoringKing makes history 👑 https://t.co/wKcT0F54Op pic.twitter.com/EAxoPMsp9X
— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2024
LeBron, only against himself
The milestone further enhances his legend as the all-time leading scorer in the regular season of the competition, a record in which he only competes against himself. The second player with the most points is another Los Angeles legend like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 38,387. Karl Malone closes the podium, with 36,928. Legends like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan didn't even reach 35,000 points. The acheivement coincides on the same day of the anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's record of 100 points in a single game, another historic Lakers player.
The record - which will continue to grow - is far from being equaled, since the closest ones are retired and there is no active player who comes close to James' scoring statistics.
Congrats to @KingJames of the @Lakers for becoming the first player ever to score 40,000 career points! pic.twitter.com/gShSHPICS8
— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2024
"I hate that the record was a defeat"
All this was not enough for LeBron, frustrated by the final defeat against the team that left them without playoffs last season: "For me the main thing has always been winning, so I hate that the record was a loss. Now I just want to find a way in which I, we, can beat them."
