James's 40,000 points were officially achieved.
On March 3, Beijing time, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets 114-124 at home.
Before the start of this game, James had scored 39,991 pointsJust 9 points shy of becoming the first Mr. 40,000 points in NBA history, considering that James has scored double-doubles in 1,200+ consecutive games in his career, reaching 40,000 points in this game is almost a certainty.
In the end, Lao Zhan didn't let people wait too longHe scored his 40,000th career point with a left-handed layup in the second quarterAt this moment, we will definitely see it again and again in James's various highlights in the future. 
What is the concept of 40,000 points? Simply do a calculation problemIf a player averages 30 points per game in his career, then he needs to play 1,334 games to reach 40,000 pointsEven if you play 65 games a season, you have to play 20In 5 seasons, and in NBA history, only Jordan and Chamberlain have averaged 30 points per game. 
If you lower the scoring bar to an average of 25 points per game, it would take 1,600 games to reach 40,000 pointsOn average, if you play 70 games in a season, you have to play 229 seasons；At present, no one in NBA history has played for 23 years, only Robert Parrish (1,611 games) has played more than 1,600 games, and only nine retired players have averaged more than 25 points per game in their careers. 
So, for a long time, 40,000 points was considered an "impossible" close number. Back ten years ago, if there were fans who asked,Is it possible for James to reach 40,000 points, I think I would probably give a negative answer as well, not because James is not strong, on the contrary, he is the youngest holder of various scoring records in NBA history, if anyone can achieve 40,000 points, then the most likely is only James. However, the decline brought about by age is inevitable, and it is generally believed that as long as the age of 35 is over, there will be a relatively large fluctuation in the state, not to mention that at that time, many people's views were:James is not a scorer, he plays on his body, and once he is over 30, he can't. 
Let's take a look at the performance of some veterans in history: 36-year-old Abdul-Jabbar averages 21 per game5 points, wait until you are 39 years old,The average is only 175 pointsO'Neal, 35, averages 142 points, and wait until the age of 39,It's the last season of his careerNowitzki, 36, averages 173 points, and wait until the age of 39,Averaged only 12 per game0 pointsCarl Malone, 35, averages 238 points, and the year before,There are also 27 per game0 pointsThe 39-year-old Jordan averaged 22 per game9 points, but he was already shooting 41More than 6% of these players represent the pinnacle of basketball as well as the pinnacle of veterans. 
The reason why Abdul-Jabbar was able to create 38,387 points is because of his 20-year career and iron-like attendance, and in the last three seasons of his career, he can still play 78, 80, and 74 games, but in fact, after getting older, his form has declinedOnly 10 in his 20th career season1 point。So, going back a decade, we took it for granted that James would decline after the age of 35, and his points per game average could drop below 25 or even 20 points, as well as lower attendance due to greater physical wear and tear (he entered the league at 18 and played a lot in the playoffs). 
And yet, however, James is really different, so different. Take a look at him over the past three seasons: 2021-2237 years old, averaging 30 per game3 points- 2022-23 season38 years old, averaging 289 points- 2023-24 season,39 years old, averaging 253 pointsJames is averaging the same points per game this season as he was in his first year back with the Cavaliers, which was nine years ago when he was only 30 years old. 
The only explanation we can think of is that James is redefining "veterans," especially those over the age of 35.
Someone else's 39-year-old is either retired or on the verge of retirementBut James, who is 39 years old and 21 years old in his career, is still at a very high levelIt's true that his athleticism has declined, but his impact, stats, and efficiency may be better than he has been in some past seasons. 
This kind of performance of pushing the limits also brought James into the GOAT discussion. Michael Jordan is undoubtedly the best player in basketball history, with more championships and FMVPs, better peak seasons, and more legendary stories, but James has more stats, a longer career, and a stronger old age. 
Jordan used to be an existence that no one could approach, and there was a huge gap between other players and him, not to mention anything else, who achieved half of the two three-time championships, six FMVPs, and ten scoring titles? Even James is difficult. But,James, who completed the "411 Project", approached or even surpassed Jordan on another trackand brought the GOAT into discussions, something that no player had ever done before.
Finally, putting aside the GOAT controversy, whether you like it or not, let's continue to witness the greatness of James - 40,000 points is not easy, the only one in history, not only unprecedented, but also possible to reach 40,000 points while averaging 25 points per game, this is the most terrible, he is still at the peak.