All hail the record-breaking reign of NBA’s King James

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All hail the record-breaking reign of NBA’s King James

LeBron James is well on his way to rewriting every previous definition of basketball longevity, and the 40-year-old is now racking up numbers the NBA has never seen before.

“King James” became the first player to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and post-season on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT), surpassing the mark with a three-pointer early in the first quarter of the LA Lakers’ 136-115 win over New Orleans.

James finished with 34 points against the Pelicans after toppling another milestone in his unprecedented career.

“I mean, that’s a lot of points,” James said afterwards, rubbing his beard in wonder.

“Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is where I’m from. Picking up the game when I was a little kid and having a love for the sport, and hoping that someday I’d be able to play at the highest level.

“I’ve been able to do that and really enjoy my career, so it’s definitely an honour.”

James already is the top scorer in NBA history in both the regular season and the playoffs. Maintaining a spectacular level of play midway through his record-tying 22nd season, he is pulling away from the other greats of the game.

Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played 20 seasons, is a now-distant second with 44,149 combined points.

James got his milestone three-pointer off an assist by Luka Doncic, a trivia tidbit that pleased both superstars.

Doncic’s arrival in last month’s seismic trade with the Dallas Mavericks has invigorated both James and the Lakers, who look like championship contenders with a seven-game winning streak and 17 victories in their past 20 games.

“It’s amazing, watching him do this stuff at this age,” said Doncic, who had 30 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds against New Orleans.

“It’s just unbelievable, that 50K points. I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might get to 70K. You never know.”

James is tied with Vince Carter for the most seasons played in NBA history. But while nearly every other NBA player who lasted to his late 30s finished at a fraction of his peak powers, James’ game shows no signs of decline in his 40s.

He was named the NBA’s Western Conference player of the month earlier on Tuesday after he averaged 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.2 steals in February while playing more than 35 minutes per game for the Lakers, who went 9-2 to surge into second place in the West.

James has played in 1548 regular-season games, trailing only Robert Parish (1611) and Abdul-Jabbar (1560).

He has also played in 287 post-season games, the most in NBA history.

James’ player of the month award for February was his 41st, extending his own league record.

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