King added another record to his already impressive NBA repertoire.
On Saturday, Lakers forward LeBron James became the first player in league history to reach 40,000 points. With 10:39 left in the second quarter of the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, James passed Michael Porter Jr. for a historic near-the-basket layup. James finished the game with 26 points and nine assists in the Lakers’ 124-114 loss to the Nuggets.
“It’s unfortunate that something like this happened, especially against a team that was playing so well,” James said of the loss. “We played some good basketball tonight, but we just couldn’t finish it.”
This is the second time in just over a year that the basketball world’s attention has focused on James. King passed another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as his career points leader in February 2023.
Abdul-Jabbar remains second in NBA history with his 38,387 career points, and another Los Angeles icon, the late Kobe Bryant, ranks fourth on the list with his 33,463 points. I am.
James crossed for his 1,475th time. His career games reached the 40,000 point mark. For comparison: Abdul-Jabbar needed 1,560 games to reach his goal.
James also holds the record for consecutive points scored at least 10 points, reaching double digits in 1,161 consecutive games.
James spoke to the media after the Lakers’ 134-131 overtime win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
He said: “It was a natural thing.” “I played the game the right way, went out there, played the game, let the game control me, and the scoring record took care of itself. I came into the league. At the time, that wasn’t my goal. I wanted to be the greatest goalscorer of all time. But I’m still playing. And the ball can still be shot, so it stays that way until the end of the game.
reached the milestone with a layup at 10:39 of the second quarter, giving the Lakers an early 37-32 lead.
The organization played a montage of key moments from James` career in the arena before he greeted the crowd.
‘‘The most important thing to me is always the most important thing, and that’s winning,‘‘ James said.
He held the lead most of the time.
He took over the game, scoring 13 points in two and a half minutes, giving the Nuggets an 88-85 lead late in the quarter.
“He has five threats on the field at the same time.
‘‘The biggest threat can do anything, and that’s the Joker,‘‘ James said.
The Lakers regained a 110-108 lead with 4:11 left after James missed an assist from Reaves.
But the Nuggets took control from there.
As the shot clock expired, Aaron Gordon (18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) made three pull-ups over Davis’ outstretched right arm, Gordon’s only three of the game, and the Nuggets. Gave 111-. With less than four minutes left, the lead was 110.
After Jokic, Jamal Murray (24 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds) and Justin Holiday (13 points off the bench) all scored two points, the Lakers scored again and the Nuggets defeated Denver 117-110. They won 9-0 in a row. Lead with 2 minutes left.
Porter had 25 points on 10-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
Davis hit a step-back jumper over Jokic with an assist from Reaves to cut the lead to 117-112 with 1:49 left, but the Lakers fell just short.
“Obviously you want to beat the defending champions, but we want to win every game,” coach Darvin Hamm said. But the only thing that’s rearing its ugly head for them is that we need to improve. They’re a strong team. But there’s one thing we definitely need to improve on. ”