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Lakers' LeBron James Has Great Response to Sharing Record With Michael Jordan


On Thursday, while guiding his Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-112 home victory against the Golden State Warriors (before either team can add its new All-NBA trade acquisition), 21-time All-Star L.A. power forward LeBron James reached some rare air.

James became the second player in league history to ever score 40 or more points at the age of 40. He finished with a whopping 42 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the field (6-of-9 from 3-point land) and 8-of-10 shooting from the foul line, 17 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and a block.

More Lakers: LeBron James Reacts to Lakers' Massive Trade to Land New Starting Center Mark Williams

He was absolutely red-hot from long range. James made as many triples on the night as 11-time All-Star Warriors point guard Stephen Curry — despite taking 11 fewer attempts! James went 4-of-4 from deep to kick off the night, capped by this logo heave.

After flailing, badly, as a 3-point shooter in 2022-23, when he made just 32.1 percent of his 6.9 long range tries, James has once again become a pretty reliable distance sniper for the Lakers. Over the past two seasons, the 6-foot-9 vet has connected on 40.2 percent of his high-volume 5.3 looks from deep per bot.

This year, he's making a superlative 39.1 percent of his 5.6 attempts from beyond the arc.

After the game, James spoke about joining Hall of Fame former shooting guard Michael Jordan as being one of two players to score 40 after 40, a feat Jordan achieved four times. Jordan's best such tally while a 40-year-old on the Washington Wizards during his final pro season, 2002-03: 43 points on 18-of-30 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from the charity stripe in an 89-86 victory against the then-New Jersey Nets on February 21, 2003. He also dished out seven assists, pulled down five rebounds, swiped one steal and blocked a shot.

"What do I think? That I'm old," James joked. "That's what I think. A glass of a wine and some sleep, that's the first thing that I think about."

More Lakers: Lakers Trade Dalton Knecht for New Starting Center Mark Williams

"The biggest thing is that we got the win, obviously," James allowed. "But throughout my journey, any time I've been named or in a category or whatever the case, cross paths with any of the greats is always humbling, just to know where I come from, and I love the game so much.

With that win, the Lakers improved to a 30-19 record on the year.

Through 46 games so far, the 40-year-old superstar is averaging 24.5 points while slashing .516/.391/.767 shooting splits, 9.0 assists, 7.8 rebonds, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.

More Lakers:

Will Lakers Regret Trading Dalton Knecht for Mark Williams?

Luka Doncic's Lakers Debut Reportedly Delayed

For the latest Los Angeles Lakers news and notes, stay glued to Lakers On SI.

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