LeBron James is already the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. But on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers star set a new scoring milestone.
James, during the Lakers’ 136-115 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena, scored his 50,000th career point, including the regular season and playoffs.
James didn’t waste much time hitting the mark, which he came painfully short of hitting Sunday night. Midway through the first quarter, James drilled a 3-pointer from the wing.
James dropped 17 points in the Lakers’ 106-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and came up with a clutch block in the final seconds to seal that win, but he finished the night with 49,999 career points. That pushed the 50,000-point milestone to Tuesday night.
James is the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 points combined in the regular season and the playoffs. He broke Michael Jordan’s postseason scoring record in 2017, and he currently has more than 8,100 playoff points in his career. James then broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record of 38,387 points during a game in 2023.
Naturally, James is well ahead of everybody on the all-time scoring list. Abdul-Jabbar finished his career with 44,149 combined points scored, and he’s one of just three people with at least 40,000 points. Kevin Durant is the only active player inside the top 10 on that list, though he sits at just more than 35,000 combined points.
Despite being at the end of his career, James is currently on a remarkable scoring kick. He entered Tuesday’s game averaging 24.8 points, 8.6 assists and eight rebounds per game this season with the Lakers. He’s shot nearly 52% from the field, too. James has also recorded multiple games in which he’s scored 40 points or more since he turned 40 on Dec. 30. Jordan is the only other player in league history to have a 40-point game after turning 40, though he only accomplished that feat once in his career.
James finished the night with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the blowout win, which pushed the Lakers to 39-21 on the season. Luka Dončić, who hit James with the assist on his historic shot, had a record night himself. He dropped 30 points and 15 assists, which made him one of just four Lakers players in history to have that statline. James, Magic Johnson and Jerry West are the other three. Jaxson Hayes added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers in the win, too, while shooting 8-of-8 from the field.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 37 points and six assists in the loss, which dropped them to 17-45. Trey Murphy added 19 points, and Jordan Hawkins put up 17 points off the bench.
James, who was the No. 1 overall pick out of high school in 2003, is in the middle of his 22nd season in the league. While it’s unclear how much longer he will play before retiring, his scoring record looks like it will stand for a very long time.