We all knew the Los Angeles Lakers were in for a complicated season in 2022-23.
Darvin Ham was a question mark as a coach, and the roster wasn’t much better than it was last season.
But regardless of the outcome, one thing was for sure this time around: LeBron James was going to crack the history books again.
Win or lose, The King has continued to perform at an incredible level throughout the season, and he’s now become just the second player in NBA history to score at least 38,000 career points.
LeBron James is the second player in NBA history to score 38,000 career points.
Greatness. pic.twitter.com/XgvALhcuON
— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2023
The 38-year-old superstar achieved that milestone by torching the Philadelphia 76er for 35 points, eight boards, and ten assists.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep the Lakers afloat during a heartbreaking 113-112 loss.
James has now scored a whopping 38,024 career points, trailing the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by just 363 points for the first spot on the league’s all-time scoring list.
He’s averaging 29.2 points per game this season, meaning he just needs roughly over 12 games to surpass the Lakers legend.
Should that be the case, then LeBron could make history on February 8 when the Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder or two days later when they face the Milwaukee Bucks — which ironically was Kareem’s only other NBA team.
Hopefully, though, James’ incredible scoring efforts won’t go to waste anymore.
The Lakers are currently sitting on a 19-24 record and the 13th spot in the Western Conference.
And even though they could still make a late push for a spot in the play-in tournament, it doesn’t seem like they have enough to go the distance this season.
NEXT: Lakers Head Coach Talks About Possible New Recruits