LeBron becomes first to reach 40K career points

LOS ANGELES -- LeBron James continues to extend his career to uncharted territory, becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 40,000 career points on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

James came into the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Denver Nuggets needing nine points to reach the mark. He got there with a driving layup at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter.

"No one has ever done it," James said when asked about the point total this week. "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.

"Obviously, there's a pecking order of which [accomplishments] are higher than others, but I would be lying to you if I said it doesn't mean anything. Because it absolutely does."

James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career scoring total of 38,387 points last season to overtake the heralded center's perch as the league's all-time scoring leader, a record Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly 40 years.

"You just come to assume and expect these great things that he's doing, whether it's making seven 3s or his downhill attacks, taking off from the [the dotted half circle in the lane] still at this point in time in his career," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said before Saturday's game. "We're not going to see this for a lot longer and have to appreciate him while he's here. ... Just appreciate him for what he's given to the game, what he continues to give to the game and his knowledge, his performance.

"I'm honored to be able to coach him and see it firsthand."

No other active player has even 30,000 career points. Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant is closest with 28,342 points, which makes him the league's No. 9 all-time leading scorer.

When asked if he is motivated to keep playing to pad his lead as the game's all-time leading scorer, James said the record was never something he aimed for.

"I never thought about getting the scoring record," James said. "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 [his point total is] going to go up until I'm done playing."