The NBA’s all-time leading scorer became the first and only player to reach 50,000 career points in the NBA — between the regular season and the playoffs — with his first basket against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night.
James’ career totals now stand at 41,840 regular-season points (and counting) and 8,162 post-season points — leading the table in both marks. He also has 99 combined points in the play-in tournament games and the 2023 in-season tournament final, but by NBA rule, neither competition counts toward career totals.
As the ageless wonder continued along the path of his timeless and storied career, putting up one of the best battles against Father Time the world has seen, his scoring numbers reached unprecedented highs for a player his age.
Still at the peak of his powers at 40 years old, James has put up an incredible campaign for the Lakers, averaging 24.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game while shooting 51.8 per cent from the field and 39.1 per cent from three-point range.
Even more impressive, perhaps, is his 26.1 points per game since turning 40 years old in late December. The mark is the highest for a 40-year-old in NBA history, surpassing Michael Jordan in the 2002-03 season, who averaged 22.4 points a night over 30 games in the latter half of his final campaign with the Washington Wizards.
James reaches 50,000 points averaging 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists over 1,548 regular season games and 28.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists over 287 playoff games.
He also has a 10-plus point streak going that dates back to January 2007, a run that spans 1,277 regular season games — by far the longest in NBA history, with Jordan second on the list at 866 consecutive games.