LOS ANGELES — After scoring 31 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 134-131 overtime win over the Washington Wizard at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday, LeBron James is nine points away from reaching 40,000 points.
James, who has the longest double-digit scoring streak in NBA history, will almost certainly pass the 40,000-point threshold on Saturday when the Lakers host the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
Following the win over the Wizards, James was asked if passing the 40,000-point mark means anything to such a decorated player who is already the league’s all-time leading scorer, a four-time champion, a four-time Finals MVP and a four-time MVP.
“I mean, I can’t sit here and say no because, of course,” James said. “No one has ever done it. And for me to be in this position at this point and time in my career, I think it’s pretty cool. Does it sit at the top of the things I’ve done in my career? No. But does it mean something? Of course. Absolutely. Why wouldn’t it?
“To be able to accomplish things in this league, with the greatest players to ever play in this league, the NBA, this has been a dream of mine and to hit feats and have milestones throughout my career, they all mean something to me. Absolutely. Obviously, there’s a pecking order of which ones are higher than others, but absolutely. I would be lying to you if I said it doesn’t mean anything. Because it absolutely does.”
James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record on Feb. 7, 2023, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 career points) with Abdul-Jabbar in attendance. James said he hasn’t thought about adding to the margin and how high his point total could ultimately reach since the record.
“No,” James said. “No. I never thought about getting the scoring record. It just happened organically. I played the game the right way and went out and played the game and let the game come to me and the scoring record happened organically for me. It was never a goal of mine when I came into the league, like I wanted to be the all-time leading scorer. But I’m still playing. And I can still score the ball so it’s going to go up until I’m done playing.”
James scored the ball a lot over the past two games — 34 points vs. the Clippers and 31 points vs. the Wizards — but his late defense also played a pivotal role in the second straight victory.
Midway through the overtime period, Wizards guard Jordan Poole streaked out in transition after a James turnover and appeared to have an uncontested layup that would’ve put the Wizards up by five points over the Lakers.
But James, tracking Poole from behind, timed his contest perfectly and swatted it against the backboard with his left hand.
“Well, I mean, I was taught at a young age when you turn the ball over you need to sprint back. And me and AD had a miscommunication on that read and I threw the pocket pass before he opened up to see the ball. And once I saw Tyus Jones kind of throw it, I tried to see if I could get back and tried to make a play. Obviously it was a big play in the game and I was happy I was able to chase it down.”
Kyle Kuzma corralled the offensive rebound and missed a pull-up 3-pointer. On the next possession, James, isolating against Kyle Kuzma, drilled a step-back 3-pointer to tie the game. The five-point swing changed the momentum and sealed the game in LA’s favor. The Wizards wouldn’t score again as the Lakers pulled away over the final 2:30.
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(Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
