LeBron James has officially become the first NBA player in history to score 50,000 combined regular season and postseason points over his career.
In the Los Angeles Lakers' Tuesday matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, Luka Doncic passed to an open James, who hit a three-point basket to officially surpass 50,000 points, sending the home crowd into an eruption of cheers.
50K CAREER POINTS FOR LEBRON JAMES pic.twitter.com/jzJe6N0UMe
— Lakers Empire (@LakersEmpire) March 5, 2025
James entered the game against the Pelicans with 49,999 career points, needing just a basket to hit a new milestone. That three-pointer put James at a total of 41,840 regular season and 8,162 postseason points.
The ageless wonder has continually reached new milestones—even after turning 40 years old—and is regularly reinventing the standard for longevity in the NBA.
Just over a year ago, James became the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 regular season points in his career. A little over two years ago on Feb. 7, 2023, James became the NBA's all-time scoring leader when he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's long-time record of 38,387 points. James has now well surpassed Abdul-Jabbar's record, and now holds these career scoring records by significant margins.
After James, Abdul-Jabbar is second on the all-time list, with a combined 44,149 points between the regular season and postseason. Karl Malone is the only other player with more than 40,000 combined regular season and postseason points, with a combined 41,689 points. The closest active NBA player to James is Kevin Durant, who is narrowly within 15,000 points of him with 35,191 total over his regular and postseason career.
If it wasn't already clear enough by this latest milestone, him recording triple-doubles at 40, his 21 All-Star Game appearances, or all his records, no NBA player holds a torch to James's unprecedented longevity. And he's not done yet.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as LeBron James Becomes First Player in NBA History With 50,000 Points .
