After surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, LeBron James is about to set a new milestone. He is only 9 points away from reaching 40,000 points in this tournament. 

This is an extremely great achievement, especially when LeBron James is still showing high-class performance at the age of 39. Scoring an average of 25.2 points per game is an unbelievable number for a basketball player nearly 40 years old, especially when people around LeBron James’ age have almost all retired or are no longer able to compete at the top level.

In this article, The Sporting News will review the scoring achievements of “King” LeBron James throughout his career.

How many points has LeBron James scored in the NBA?

After the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Washington Wizards, LeBron James now has 39,991 career points.

With only 9 points away from the 40,000 mark, LeBron James will certainly surpass it in the match against Denver Nuggets

LeBron James’s record is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon. The second-highest active player, Kevin Durant, has just 28,318 points, followed by James Harden (25,600), Russell Westbrook (25,092) and Stephen Curry (23,198).

Remember, reaching LeBron James’ milestone requires more than talent, it also requires maintaining peak performance throughout a 21-year career. At 39 years old, LeBron James still scores an average of 25.2 points per game, as well as always being among the best players in the world. Not only that, LeBron James has almost never suffered any serious injuries.

Records are meant to be broken, though. It took LeBron James 39 years to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Someone will surpass LeBron James’s record in the future, though it may take decades.

LeBron James’ scoring record by team

Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-10, 2014-2018)

LeBron James scored 23,119 points in two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In his first seven seasons with Ohio State, LeBron James scored a total of 15,251 points. After four years, he returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, scoring another 7,868 points and helping the team win the 2016 NBA championship.

In the 2007/08 season, LeBron James topped the NBA scoring list with an average of 30 points per game. By the 2017/18 season, LeBron James also gradually led the NBA in total scoring with 2,251 points at the age of 33.

Miami Heat (2010-2014)

LeBron James scored 7,919 points in four seasons with the Miami Heat.

This was also the peak period of LeBron James’ entire career, when he won 2 championships with the Florida team. However, LeBron James only scored an average of 26.9 points during this period, partly because he had high-class satellites to share the score like Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh.

Los Angeles Lakers (2018-present)

As of now, LeBron James has 8,953 points for the Los Angeles Lakers and this number certainly hasn’t stopped yet.

In the 2021/22 season, LeBron James averaged 30.3 points. Remember, he was 37 years old at the time. At 38, LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record (38,387 points) and is currently aiming for the 40,000-point mark in the NBA.