Basketball star LeBron James became the first NBA player to reach 40,000 career regular-season points on Saturday.
Basketball star LeBron James became the first NBA player to reach 40,000 career regular-season points on Saturday. James, 39, said he was proud to reach the milestone, but described the game as « bittersweet », as his Los Angeles Lakers lost 124-114 to the defending NBA champions the Denver Nuggets.
« Being the first player to do something, it’s pretty cool in this league, just knowing the history, the greats that’s come through the league, and then you see some of the greats on the floor tonight, it was great to compete, » said James, who scored 26 points on the night.
« But for me, the main thing, as always, is to win, and I hated that it had to happen in a defeat. » James has achieved the feat in 1,475 regular-season games, reaching double-digit points in each of the last 1,205 of those.
James also talked about the intense pressure that has been on him since he started as a young player over 20 years ago. « For the first time in a long time, I’ve seen the commercial that was played before my first game, » James said. « I think they mentioned all the greats to ever play the game of basketball, like Big O and Michael and Kareem and Kobe, and forgot who all else was in that commercial.
