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| AP Photo |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James reached 40,000 points Saturday night, still going strong in his 21st NBA season as he tries to put the career scoring record out of reach.
James drove past Michael Porter Jr. and hit a layup with 10:39 left in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124 loss to the Denver Nuggets for the historic basket.
“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,” James said. “But for me, the main thing, as always, is to win, and I hated that it had to happen in a defeat.”
James did it in 1,475 regular-season games, reaching double-digit points in each of the last 1,205 of them. He has largely avoided major injuries in that time, while also playing another 3 1/2 seasons worth of games in the playoffs en route to four titles in 10 NBA Finals appearances, all with unfathomable pressure placed on him to be the next transcendent player before ever stepping on the court as a professional.
