LeBron James reached another incredible milestone in his career on Tuesday, surpassing 50,000 career points. He achieved this on his first basket of the night, a 3-pointer made possible by a fantastic pass from his new teammate, Luka Dončić.
The Lakers went on to secure an easy 136-115 victory over the Pelicans. After the win, Luka was asked about LeBron’s achievement and responded with a lighthearted remark.
“It’s amazing watching him do this at his age, it’s just unbelievable,” Luka said. “50K points, I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might even reach 70K, you never know.”
Luka, clearly enjoying his time with the Lakers, has been all smiles on the court, joking about needing to work on his celebrations and marveling at LeBron’s greatness while playfully suggesting another major milestone to reach.
While Luka was joking about LeBron hitting 70,000 points, let’s take a look at what it would take to reach that number.
Last year, combining both regular season and playoff games, LeBron scored 1,961 points. To hit 70,000, he would need to maintain his 2023-24 scoring pace for just over ten more years.
While it would be exciting to see LeBron play alongside Luka for that long, it’s hard to imagine him continuing at that level for that many years, even for someone as ageless as LeBron.
The good news is that LeBron and Luka are now teammates in Los Angeles, and their partnership has helped the Lakers achieve the longest winning streak of the season. So, while LeBron may not score another 20,000 points before his retirement, every basket he makes helps the Lakers and Luka on their path back to greatness.
As for Luka, he still has a long way to go to reach LeBron’s level. Dončić has scored 13,841 career points in seven seasons, meaning he would need about 26 more years to reach 50,000 points. These numbers are astonishing, highlighting just how exceptional LeBron’s longevity and consistency have been.
It’s great to see Luka enjoying the ride and admiring LeBron’s incredible achievements as both players continue to make history.
