LeBron James Scoring Tracker: Lakers star reaches 40,000 career points

LeBron James, already the NBA's all-time scoring leader, reaches 40,000 career points in Saturday's game against the Denver Nuggets.

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40K: LeBron hits latest milestone

In front of an enthusiastic crowd at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night, LeBron James became the first NBA player to reach 40,000 points.

James drove past Michael Porter Jr. and hit a layup with 10:39 left in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Denver Nuggets for the historic basket.

LeBron James becomes the 1st NBA player with 40,000 career points

James received a standing ovation at the next timeout, while coach Darvin Ham gave him a congratulatory pat on the chest. There was an in-arena video presentation, which was preceded and followed by James raising the ball over his head.

James finished the night with a team-high 26 points (12-for-20 shooting) and nine assists in a 124-114 loss.

While James' latest milestone won't have the same stature as becoming the all-time scoring king — he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for No. 1 all time just over a year ago — it will still be a special moment.

His words: "Being the first player to do something, it's pretty cool in this league, just knowing the history, the greats that's come through the league and then you see some of the greats on the floor tonight, it was great to compete," James said. "But for me, the main thing, as always, is to win, and I hated that it had to happen in a defeat."

Nuggets coach Michael Malone spent five seasons with James as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-10 and remains in awe of how he is able to still play at such a high level.

"I don't get caught up in the number per se, but you just have to marvel at the continued greatness," Malone said.

LeBron's overall statistical ranking

James will be all over the NBA record books when all is said and done. Here's a quick look at where he stands in several other prominent statistical categories:

Minutes played (2nd)

Assists (4th)

Steals (8th)

Games played (7th)

Rebounds (31st)

NBA's all-time points leaderboard

RANK PLAYER PTS GP MIN FGM FGA FG% 1 LeBron James  40,017 1,475 55,987 14,670 29,027 50.5 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 1,560 57,446 15,837 28,307 55.9 3 Karl Malone 36,928 1,476 54,852 13,528 26,210 51.6 4 Kobe Bryant 33,643 1,346 48,643 11,719 26,200 44.7 5 Michael Jordan 32,292 1,072 41,010 12,192 24,537 49.7

The Associated Press contributed to this report.