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“I Would Be Lying”: LeBron James Makes a Candid Confession on 40,000 Milestone

Published 03/01/2024, 7:49 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is currently playing his 21 season with the NBA. As a reward for the longevity and patience with which he has carried his professional career, he has received the opportunity to play alongside four different teams, secure four championships and MVP titles to his name, and establish records that will remain the threshold for aspiring players for many years to come. With no plans to back down anytime soon and still delivering commendable performances, the 39-year-old is all set to achieve another remarkable milestone: becoming the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points.

While many people expected the Lakers star to achieve this extraordinary feat during his recent game against the Washington Wizards, the player unfortunately fell just 9 points behind the high threshold. Since the player has continued to maintain a long-running streak of scoring double-digit points over the past few games, fans do not doubt that the next matchup against the Denver Nuggets will be the time to bring out the champagne bottles and celebrate the talented enigma that is LeBron James.

In the aftermath of the game against the Wizards, the four-time NBA champion took a moment to engage in a ‘Q & A’ session with certain members of the media. When one of them asked him “Does 40,000 mean anything to you?”, the NBA legend replied that he isn’t going to “sit here and say no” since he also understands the gravitas of what he is about to achieve within the next few hours. At the same time, however, the 39-year-old made it clear that he wouldn’t place the ’40,000’ feat at the top of his list of achievements.

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“For me to be in this position at this point and time in my career, I think it’s pretty cool,” LeBron said. “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?”

LeBron continued to maintain that every milestone and feat that he has achieved is a memorable one, since they were accomplished while competing against “the greatest players to ever play in this league”. “Obviously, there’s a pecking order of which ones are higher than others, but absolutely” LeBron add during the conversation. “I would be lying to you if I said it doesn’t mean anything. Because it absolutely does.”

LeBron James claims that it was never his goal to beat the All-Time Scoring record

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LeBron James has reportedly stated that he never had any aspirations of holding the NBA’s all-time scoring record. Despite this fact, however, history chose to bow to the Lakers legend on the 7 of February 2023, when he surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points to claim the top spot for himself. When recalling the moment during the recent ‘Q & A’ session, the player continued to maintain after even after achieving the record, he didn’t have much hope of making any worthwhile addition to it.

“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,” said LeBron. “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 it’s going to go up until I’m done playing.”

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USA Today via Reuters

Saturday is set to be a big day. A day that will certainly go down in the history books of the NBA. The focus of the world will be on King James as he prepares to step onto the court against the Denver Nuggets, with just 9 points remaining, and claim the monumental achievement that may never be achieved by anyone else for a long, long time.

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READ MORE: “I Was So Depressed”: Fallen NFL Icon Discloses How LeBron James Gave Him a Fighting Chance

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Written by:

Ashmit Kumar

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Ashmit is an NBA Content Analyst at EssentiallySports. Having started as a writer, he specializes in writing captivating stories that include the elements of in-depth coverage of teams, players and more. Due to his knowledge of the technicalities of the sport, Ashmit writes perspective pieces that provide well-researched analysis.
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Edited by:

Saumya Khanduja