The four-time NBA champion became only the third player in league history to score at least 35,000 points on Thursday night.
LeBron James wrote his name in another chapter of the NBA annals as he became only the third player in league history to score at least 35,000 points during the regular season in his career. The four-time NBA champion reached the milestone with two free throws towards the end of the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 109-98 home loss against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone in one of the NBA’s most exclusive clubs. James’ 32 points against the Nets took his career tally to 35,017, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 35,000 points. He was also the youngest player to reach 5,000 points,10,000 points,20,000 points and 30,000 points. While he remains comfortably behind Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record of 38,387 points and Malone’s 36,928, James could overtake both depending on whether he remains fit and how long he plans to continue to play until he retires. In 19 seasons in the NBA, Malone averaged 25 points over the course of 1,476 games. James, meanwhile, has scored an average of 27 points per game in the 1,295 games he has played in his 17 seasons in the league.
