Dave McMenamin
LOS ANGELES – Lakers superstar LeBron James became the NBA’s first 50,000 points man on Tuesday night.
James was required to take part in the Lakers game against the Pelicans in New Orleans, reaching 50,000 total points for his regular and postseason career. He reached the milestone on the first shot, connecting with a 3-pointer from the Lecadon Chic Feed from the left to move the Lakers up 13-6, leaving 8:34 in the first quarter.
During the subsequent timeout, Lakers official speech announcer Lawrence Tanter told the crowd, “Women and gentlemen, we all just witnessed history.”
James finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists in Los Angeles’ 136-115 victory. The Lakers scored 17 of 20, finishing second in the Western Conference 39-21.
James is the NBA’s career leader in regular and postseason scoring with 41,871 points in the regular season and 8,162 points in the playoffs.
“It’s a hell of a lot of points and I’m so blessed to be able to put that many points in the best league in the world with the best players in the world more than my career,” James told Spectrum Sportsnet in an on-court interview after the game. “That’s pretty special.”
In 28 games since he turned 40, James averaged 26.4 points with 54.1% shooting (3-42.3%), 8.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists.
James recently shared graphics on Instagram, and these averages were compared favorably in his final MVP season of 2012-13, averaging 26.8 points with 56.5% shooting (3-40.6%), 8.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Miami Heat.
“I had the opportunity to play the game I love and I’ve always been faithful to it, so I always try to give back,” James said Tuesday night.
James went 18th from the floor, five tenths with three pointers, shooting more than 50% from the floor for the sixth in the last seven games. Donsic scored 30 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds in a 19-9 shooting (6/13 in 3 seconds).
“Amazing,” Donsic said of James. “It’s incredible to see him do something like this at this age. Like 50K points, I can’t even explain how crazy it is. He might reach 70k, you’ll never know.”
The 22-year veteran reached the 50,000-point milestone just hours after being named Western Conference Player of the Month in February.
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“We wouldn’t be in a position where we are if we weren’t playing at the level he’s playing,” Lakers manager JJ Reddick said before the Pelicans’ game. “And it’s offensive and defensive.”
Reddick also confirmed that the Lakers are not in a position to celebrate James’ 50,000 points on Tuesday.
In three play-in tournament games (2021, 2023, 2024), James scored a total of 75 points. These points are not added to James’ career playoff totals. James scored 24 points in the tournament championship game during the 2023 season. These points are also not reflected in his regular season career totals.
“We have a strong sense of play-in tournaments. The scenario for these little games is a playoff game,” Reddick said. “I think these games should certainly be counted in the playoffs.”
The 70,000-point bar Don Sic set for James may be out of reach, but Lakers’ elder politicians have argued what he allowed him to continue competing at the level he’s been going for so long.
“It just doesn’t fall from love in this process,” James said. “Continue to fall in love with the process, it’s the most difficult thing every year. You know it’s going to be a long season. It’s 82 games, of which 41 are on the road. It’s a lot of travel.
