Former Miami Heat star LeBron James recently became the first player in NBA history to amass 40,000 career points, and the Heat organization and Dwyane Wade congratulated the superstar on his Instagram post that commemorated the milestone.
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James’s latest feat came in the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. He entered the game needing nine points to reach the mark, and he hit it after converting a left-handed layup with over 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
LEBRON JAMES HITS 40,000 POINTS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jXHxtMuGQs
— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) March 3, 2024
It would have been nice if his achievement was accompanied by a win. The Lakers almost got the upset victory, taking an eight-point lead entering halftime. But the defending champions took over in the second half, thanks in large part to Nikola Jokic, who scored 35 points, and Michael Porter Jr., who had 25 without missing any of his 10 field-goal attempts.
As for the 20-time All-Star, he finished the evening with 26 points. His career total is currently 40,017, with 7,919 of those points coming in a Heat uniform.
It remains to be seen how many more points James has in his bag, but with the way he has been playing in his 21st season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him score thousands more. In this campaign, he is averaging 25.3 points per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the field. Clearly, he is showing no signs of slowing down.
One of the questions for the future Hall of Famer now is how many more titles he can win. Currently, he has four rings, two of which are courtesy of his tenure in Miami.
The Lakers have a steep hill to climb this season in order to return to championship contention, as they hold the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference with a 33-29 record.
The good news for the squad is that they managed to reach the conference finals last season despite having to go through the play-in tournament. It defeated the No. 2-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the first round before eliminating the Golden State Warriors in the conference semifinals. The Nuggets stopped Los Angeles in its tracks by sweeping it in the next round.
Incidentally, the Heat also had a magical playoff run in the 2022-23 campaign. Like the Lakers, they had to participate in the play-in tournament. Miami then earned a trip to the Finals, where it lost to Denver in six games.
