The numbers that add up to LeBron’s NBA record 40,000
LeBron James added another jewel to his royal résumé. Already the NBA’s all-time leader scorer, the man known as King James on Saturday became the first player in league history to reach 40,000 career points.
James achieved the milestone with a driving, left-handed layup early in the second quarter of the Lakers’ home loss to the defending champion Nuggets.
“Being the first player to do something is pretty cool in this league,” James said. “You just know the history. You know the greats that have come through the league.”
Here’s a dive by the numbers into James’ latest unprecedented achievement.
● 0,017: James’ current point total after he scored 26 against the Nuggets. James entered Saturday needing only nine points to reach 40,000.
● 368: It took James 368 games to go from 30,000 points to 40,000 – the exact same number of games he needed to score the first 10,000 points of his career, according to The Washington Post. That remarkable symmetry demonstrates James’ incredible longevity.
● 38,387: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career point total stood as the NBA record for more than 38 years, until James passed it in February 2023.
● 1,475: That’s how many regular-season games James needed to reach 40,000. He’s played in 85 fewer games than Abdul-Jabbar, and one fewer game than Karl Malone, whose 36,928 points are the third-most in NBA history.
● 39 YEARS, 63 DAYS: James’ exact age when he reached 40,000 points. He’s still younger than Abdul-Jabbar (age 42), Malone (41) and the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer, Michael Jordan (40), were when they retired.
● 25.3: Through 54 appearances in 2023-24, James is averaging 25.3 points per game, not far from his career mark of 27.1. He continues to play at an elite level, as evidenced by his 7.0 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game this season.
● 10,847: Beyond his unparalleled scoring, James is among the NBA’s most prolific passers ever. His 10,847 career assists rank fourth all time.
● : Despite his growing advantage as the NBA’s leading scorer, James led the NBA in points per game only once in his career, when he averaged 30.0 over 75 games with the Cavaliers in 2007-08. He also led the NBA in total points over a single season only once, when he scored 2,251 while appearing in all 82 games with Cleveland in 2017-18.
● 8,023: James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in the postseason, too. His 8,023 playoff points greatly exceed the 5,987 points scored by the runner-up, Jordan, albeit over 103 more postseason games.
● 21: James is now in his 21st NBA season. If he returns next year, he would join Vince Carter as the only players to appear in 22 NBA seasons.