LeBron James has done it again, becoming the first player in history to reach career 50,000 points. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar hit the milestone in Tuesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, adding to his legacy as the league’s all-time leading scorer.
James came into the game with 49,999 combined regular-season and playoff points after scoring 17 points in Sunday’s win over the L.A. Clippers. It wasn’t long before the 40-year-old hit the milestone, catching a pass from Luka Doncic, then calmly draining a 25-foot three-pointer that sent the Crypto. com Arena crowd in to a frenzy.
The milestone is another achievement in an already singular career. James broke a 39-year-old record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most regular-season points in 2023, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s total of 38,387. Now, with 50,002 points total, he ranks nearly 6,000 points ahead of Abdul-Jabbar’s combined career total of 44,149.
The rest of the top five all-time scorers are Karl Malone (41,689), the late Kobe Bryant (39,283) and Michael Jordan (38,279). That excellence is nowhere near approached historically: among active players, only Kevin Durant — with just over 35,000 points — can even compare.
The latest achievement in James’ storied career cements his legacy as one of the greatest players in basketball history — that even 22 seasons into his NBA career, he is doing it as one of the dominant players in the game.
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