It’s official: LeBron James has reached 50,000 career points across the regular season and playoffs. Love him or hate him, that’s an absurd level of longevity. And the scary part is that the “King” isn’t even close to finished.
LeBron James Reaches 50K Points at 40 Years Old
After reaching 49,999 career points on Sunday night, fans were left on a cliffhanger.
They would have to wait until Tuesday night to see LeBron make history.
After receiving the ball from Luka Doncic, LeBron had only one thing to do. He sunk a beautiful 25-foot three-pointer, the crowd went nuts, and social media lit up.
Heading into the game itself, LeBron needed just one point to reach 50,000. Ultimately, he grabbed 34 points, taking his current total to 50,033. To put this into perspective, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird combined have 47,096.
Following the game — a Lakers 136-115 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans — a celebration and media frenzy ensued. Will his record ever be broken? Probably not, which is why many people on X are now bravely claiming that LeBron’s legendary points total makes him the all-time GOAT.
Whether you’re #TeamLeBron or #TeamJordan, nobody can deny that LeBron’s name is up there. And in terms of pure statistics, he is the greatest.
In his near half-century career, LeBron has over 50,000 career points, including 8,000 playoff points, and has won NBA Championships with three different franchises. Not to mention, he also has 21 CONSECUTIVE All-Star appearances to his name and has been selected for the All-NBA team 20 times. It was only last month that he was named ‘Player of the Month’ for the 41st time in his career (another record), so there’s still plenty left in the tank.
His Greatest Milestone?
When it’s all said and done, LeBron will hold more records than almost every other NBA player COMBINED.
He has the most regular-season points. The most playoff points. The most All-Star Selections. The most All-NBA selections. The most playoff games. The most playoff wins. The most consecutive games scoring double-digit points. And many more.
All of these are testaments to his longevity, something that should not be taken lightly. The level of commitment and discipline it takes to take care of your body, train every offseason, and show up every night for 22 seasons is remarkable—all while raising a family, nonetheless.
No stat quite encapsulates that commitment than eclipsing 50,000 total points. Not only did LeBron have to stay healthy and skilled enough for 20+ regular seasons. He also had to influence his team’s record enough to make deep postseason runs every year, which allowed him to surpass 8,000 playoff points.
In a sense, the 50K point milestone is the culmination of all of LeBron’s basketball abilities. He didn’t just have to score. He had to score for 82 games a season for 22 years while willing his team to the playoffs, where he would do it all over again. It’s the amalgamation of raw ability, skill, discipline, character, grit, and a relentless commitment to showing up every single day. No other player will ever have the combination of those attributes quite like LeBron James.
“He Might Get to 70k!” – Luka Doncic
In the past 48 hours, countless figures in the NBA world have given LeBron his flowers.
The main focus has been on James’ career and everything that came before his 50K milestone. There’s also a growing discussion about how long he can keep going for and whether it’s possible for him to keep racking up more longevity points. Interestingly, Luka Doncic — the man who assisted LeBron before he threw that iconic 3-pointer on Tuesday night — had this to say:
“It’s amazing. Watching him do this stuff at this age it’s just unbelievable. 50K points, I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might even get to 70K, you never know.”
Truth be told, it’s highly unlikely that LeBron will ever get to 70K, or even 60K, for that matter. After all, the clock is ticking. However, based on how good LeBron is looking at the moment, you wouldn’t put it past him to keep going for at least another two seasons.
Remember, he’s still in the first year of a two-year contract with the Lakers — worth a reported $101.3 million — with the option to play out the second year of the deal and then become a free agent after the 2025-26 season. Nobody knows for certain yet what will happen, but there’s an incredibly high chance that we’ll still be seeing LeBron out on the court when next season starts.
Is an MVP in the Cards this season?
LeBron has been nothing short of spectacular this season.
However, being MVP is a bit of a stretch, especially at 40 years of age. Unless he can lead the Lakers to the number one seed, his name won’t be near the MVP award this year. Barring a catastrophic injury, the award is overwhelmingly likely to go to either Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic.
Many sportsbooks have MVP odds out now, including those on social betting platforms like PrizePicks. If you are looking to place your wager down with a site like PrizePicks, you can see a range of alternatives on bettingtools.com that have better odds and promos. They also have better pricing, such as:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: -600
Nikola Jokic: +380
Giannis Antetokounmpo: +30,000
Jayson Tatum: +50,000
LeBron James: +50,000
If you are going to bet on this season’s MVP, Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is your best shot. There are some wishful thinkers out there, especially on social media, who believe LeBron still has one last Championship run in him with the Lakers, but this is a longshot at best. LeBron himself has even gone on record to say he doesn’t think the Lakers can win a Championship anytime soon, so the prospect of him being MVP again isn’t very likely, either.
What’s Next for LeBron?
LeBron is in the twilight stage of his career now.
For sure, he’s got at least two years left out on the court. Maybe more, if he chooses. But whether he wraps it up for good this year or a little bit further down the line, it’s a great way for him to go out. With a player like Luka alongside him, LeBron doesn’t have to carry the load offensively anymore or be the main facilitator.
Instead, LeBron can be the catch-and-shoot guy, pick up buckets from drive-and-kicks, and get some run-outs every now and then. It’s the perfect way for one of basketball’s true greats to close out his career. And if the Lakers can shock everyone by making it to the Finals this season or next, then it’ll be even better for him.
Final Thoughts
After reaching 50,000 points on Tuesday night, LeBron James has solidified himself as the greatest NBA player of all time in many people’s eyes.
Being named Western Conference Player of the Month at age 40. Playing alongside your eldest son. Setting unbreakable records. It doesn’t get much better than this when you’re reaching the end of your career. Whether LeBron ultimately decides to hang it up at the end of the season or not, his name is already down in the history books, and it’s highly unlikely that any other NBA player will ever get anywhere close to the huge 50K points landmark he just set.
Leave a comment