One year removed from becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James continues to raise the bar for any future players attempting to challenge his record.
James’ longevity is unmatched, and that is what will make his milestone all but unrepeatable. In Year 21, the 39-year-old is still scoring at the same rate he was a decade ago. James is averaging 25.2 points per game, proving he’s still capable of putting up 30 or 40 points on any given night.
After scoring 34 points in the biggest comeback of his career Wednesday against the Clippers, James is on the doorstep of becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 40,000 points.
How many points does James have? The Sporting News breaks down The King’s scoring from each stop of his illustrious career.
MORE: Tracking LeBron James’ race to 40,000 points
How many career points does LeBron James have?
Following the Lakers’ win over the Clippers on Feb. 28, James is sitting at 39,960 career points — just 40 shy of 40,000.
With 25.2 points per game this season, James is on pace to reach the 40K mark on Saturday, March 2, at home against the defending champion Nuggets.
If 40,000 points sounds like an insurmountable milestone, that’s because at this moment in time, it is.
The next-closest active player to James’ scoring title is Kevin Durant, who sits at 28,318 points. After Durant, it’s James Harden (25,600), Russell Westbrook (25,092) and Stephen Curry (23,198).
All four of those future Hall of Famers are well over 10,000 points shy of the record in the twilight of their careers.
MORE: LeBron James gets honest with his Lakers future and retirement plans
There are younger players — Giannis Antetokounmpo (18,029), Devin Booker (14,006), Nikola Jokic (13,532), Jayson Tatum (11,349) and Luka Doncic (10,855) among them — who are worth monitoring, but they would have to play at this same level into their 40s to even have a chance at catching James.
As the saying goes, records are meant to be broken. But just as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held the crown for 39 years, it seems safe to say James will keep this title for decades.
LeBron James points by team
Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-10, 2014-2018)
James scored 23,119 points across two stints with the Cavaliers.
He spent the first seven seasons of his career in Cleveland, tallying 15,251 points before he took his talents to South Beach. When he returned to his home city in 2014, James put up another 7,868 points in a Cavs uniform over four seasons.
James won his lone scoring title with the Cavaliers, averaging 30.0 points per game as a 23-year-old in 2007-08. He also led the NBA in total points (2,251) during the 2017-18 season as a 33-year-old.
Miami Heat (2010-2014)
James scored 7,919 points in four seasons with the Heat.
While the Miami years are often seen as the most dominant of James’ career, his 26.9 points per game scoring average with the Heat is narrowly his lowest among his three franchises. He is averaging 27.0 points per game over six seasons with the Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers (2018-Present)
James has scored 8,922 points (and counting) in six seasons with the Lakers.
Just when you might have expected the veteran to take his foot off the gas as a scorer late in his career, James has somehow maintained his production.
As a 37-year-old in the 2021-22 season, James averaged 30.3 points per game, the second-highest average of his career.
Last season, when he broke Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record, James averaged more points per game (28.9) at age 38 than he did during his first-ever MVP season (28.4) at age 24.
How much longer are we going to say Father Time is undefeated?
