There are not many milestones that LeBron James is still chasing. Arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, he already has the most points in a career and increases his own record with each game he plays.
Heading into the Lakers game against the Nuggets on February 22, James has 41,707 career points in the regular season. He would score about 2,000 points a season in his prime, so he likely doesn’t have enough seasons left to 50,000 career points just in the regular season.
If you add in his postseason career, James adds another 8,162 points. This gives him 49,869 career points if you count all of his combined points. James goes into Saturday night’s game just 131 points shy of 50,000 for his career. He is already leading in career regular season scoring and would be the first person to ever combine for 50,000 points in his career.
Here is the most likely game for James to reach this milestone.
SN’s NBA HQ: Live NBA scores | Updated NBA standings | Full NBA schedule
When will LeBron James break 50,000 career points?
James is only 131 points shy of 50,000 points. Technically, he could do it against Denver; it would just take him scoring likely every point for the Lakers and setting the single-game record by 31 points.
It is way more likely that James will accomplish the feat sometime in March. The Lakers forward is averaging 24.7 points per game this season. Mathematically, it will take him 5.3 games to reach 50,000 career points. This would have him reaching the milestone on March 4 against the Pelicans. James could get rest on February 28 since it is the second game of a back-to-back, and then that would push him possibly breaking 50,000 points to March 6 against the Knicks.
2/22 Update: James scored 25 points against Denver, which is right on track with his 24.7 points per game average this season. He and the Lakers will face the Mavericks next on Tuesday and is 106 points away from 50,000 career points.
LeBron James career points
| Year | Regular Season Points | Regular Season Avg. | Postseason Points | Postseason Avg. |
| 2003 | 1,654 | 20.9 | — | — |
| 2004 | 2,175 | 27.2 | — | — |
| 2005 | 2,478 | 31.4 | 400 | 30.8 |
| 2006 | 2,132 | 27.3 | 501 | 25.1 |
| 2007 | 2,250 | 30.0 | 366 | 28.2 |
| 2008 | 2,304 | 28.4 | 494 | 35.3 |
| 2009 | 2,258 | 29.7 | 320 | 29.1 |
| 2010 | 2,111 | 26.7 | 497 | 23.7 |
| 2011 | 1,683 | 27.1 | 697 | 30.3 |
| 2012 | 2,036 | 26.8 | 596 | 25.9 |
| 2013 | 2,089 | 27.1 | 548 | 27.4 |
| 2014 | 1,743 | 25.3 | 601 | 30.1 |
| 2015 | 1,920 | 25.3 | 552 | 26.3 |
| 2016 | 1,954 | 26.4 | 591 | 32.8 |
| 2017 | 2,251 | 27.5 | 748 | 34.0 |
| 2018 | 1,505 | 27.4 | — | |
| 2019 | 1,698 | 25.3 | 580 | 27.6 |
| 2020 | 1,126 | 25.0 | 140 | 23.3 |
| 2021 | 1,695 | 30.3 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,590 | 28.9 | 392 | 24.5 |
| 2023 | 1,822 | 25.7 | 139 | 27.8 |
| 2024 | 1,233 | 24.7 | — | — |
| Total | 41,707 | 27.0 | 8,162 | 28.4 |
Lakers remaining 2024-2025 schedule
Every team plays 82 games during the NBA regular season. The Lakers went 32-21 ahead of the All-Star break. After the game against Denver on Saturday night, Los Angeles will have 27 games remaining in the regular season.
| Date | Opponent |
| 2/22 | at Nuggets |
| 2/25 | vs. Mavericks |
| 2/27 | vs. Timberwolves |
| 2/28 | vs. Clippers |
| 3/2 | vs. Clippers |
| 3/4 | vs. Pelicans |
| 3/6 | vs. Knicks |
| 3/8 | at Celtics |
| 3/10 | at Nets |
| 3/13 | at Bucks |
| 3/14 | at Nuggets |
| 3/16 | at Suns |
| 3/17 | vs. Spurs |
| 3/19 | vs. Nuggets |
| 3/20 | vs. Bucks |
| 3/22 | vs. Bulls |
| 3/24 | at Magic |
| 3/26 | at Pacers |
| 3/27 | at Bulls |
| 3/29 | at Grizzlies |
| 3/31 | vs. Rockets |
| 4/3 | vs. Warriors |
| 4/4 | vs. Pelicans |
| 4/6 | at Thunder |
| 4/8 | at Thunder |
| 4/9 | at Mavericks |
| 4/11 | vs. Rockets |
| 4/13 | at Trail Blazers |
