LeBron James becomes first NBA player to score 40,000 points

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has become the first player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) to score 40,000 career points. James scored his 40,000th career point on Sunday with a layup at the 1:21 mark of the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets. He was nine points shy of 40,000 points before that game.

After James reached the milestone, the crowd erupted into a standing ovation as time-out was called and a commemorative video featuring him was shown on the field. James celebrated by raising the 40,000-point ball over his head.

James finished with 26 points (four rebounds, nine assists), the highest in his team on the night. However, the Lakers lost 114-124 to the Nuggets. "We're going to stop (the record). We're going to hold him to eight points," Denver superstar Nikola Jokic declared before the game, and Jokic delivered 35 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists to lead his team to victory while granting James the record.

"It's pretty cool to be the first player to do something in this league," James said after reaching the 40,000-point plateau. “It's great to compete in a league with the best players. But the most important thing to me is winning. I don’t like having set the record in a lost game."

James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career scoring total (38,387) on February 8 last year and became the NBA's all-time leading scorer for the first time in 39 years. The veteran player is still averaging 25 points per game this season at the old age of 40.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com