LeBron James, who was already the top scorer in NBA history, marked another milestone this Saturday by surpassing the bar of 40,000 points, achieved in his 21 seasons in the elite.

At the start of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Denver Nuggets, he was only nine points away from putting exclamation points on his career. Shortly after the second period began, James made a drive to the basket and a drop shot gave him the score that elevated him to the 40,000 mark with a gala ovation and him greeting and even shaking hands with spectators sitting on the front line of the court. Then he continued to score, solidifying his position in the history books of this competition. And what’s left.

He has come this far in his journey through three teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers (in two periods, with the 10,000 and 30,000 marks), the Miami Heat (the 20,000 barrier) and now with the Lakers.

This year he will turn 40, but he still puts in superlative performances at an age when most basketball players are already retired, a circumstance that represents a challenge among athletes.

“No one has ever done this,” James said. “For me, to find myself in this situation, at this point in my career, I think it’s very good,” he said. “Does this rank at the top of things I’ve done in my career? No. But does this mean anything? Of course, absolutely. Why wouldn’t it matter? To achieve this in this league, with the best who have ever played in the NBA, this is a dream that comes true and all the milestones are important in my career,” he stressed in the preview.

“It is obvious that there is a hierarchical order of which achievements come before others, but I would not want to lie if I say that this does not mean anything, because it does matter,” he acknowledged.

On February 7, 2023, it grabbed all the headlines. That day he scored his 38,388 points, in a game also at home, in Los Angeles, against the Oklahoma Thunder. Thus he surpassed former Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer (38,337), a record that the legendary center held for almost four decades.

No other active player even reaches 30,000 points. Kevin Durant, of the Phoenix Suns, is the closest with more than 28,350 points as of this Sunday.

“I never thought about reaching the points record, this has happened organically. I play the games the best I can and I never had this goal of being the top scorer in history. But I am still playing, I can score and I will go as far as the game takes me,” he said.

Despite the many successes, James still has goals ahead of him. If he returns in the next competition (2024-25), and at this point this is something that offers no doubt, then he will tie with Vince Carter on the throne of players with the most seasons: 22.

And a long time ago he set a challenge, which is to play with his children, Bronny is a freshman in college and Bryce is in his second year of high school.