Inside the numbers: LeBron James and his path to 50,000 points in the NBA, including playoffs

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Another milestone awaits LeBron James: 50,000 NBA points.

He's one point away from getting to that number, which takes into account his regular season and playoff scoring. By NBA rule, the 99 points he's scored in play-in tournament games and the 2023 in-season tournament final don't count, so he's officially at 49,999 for now.

James could get the mark Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Lakers host the New Orleans Pelicans.

A look at the magnitude of 50,000 points:

The only two players, other than James, who scored more than 40,000 points in NBA regular season and playoff games were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (44,149) and Karl Malone (41,689).

Kobe Bryant (39,283) and Michael Jordan (38,279) came close.

Maybe. Probably not. Certainly, no time soon, and not under the current rules. If the league ever adds a 4-point shot or something along those lines, it'll obviously be easier for great players to pile up points.

Kevin Durant is second to James among active players with 35,191 points including playoffs — which means even if he averaged 2,000 points a season (something he's done only once in the last five years) he would still have to play into the 2032-33 season to have a shot at reaching 50,000.

In terms of total points, that would be the Boston Celtics — who have given up 2,935 points to James. In terms of points per game, it's the Golden State Warriors (29.4).

The other milestone-scoring games for James, with the totals also reflecting playoff numbers:

1 point — Oct. 29, 2003, with Cleveland against Sacramento.

10,000 points — Dec. 23, 2007, with Cleveland against Golden State.

20,000 points — Dec. 27, 2011, with Miami against Boston.

30,000 points — Nov. 2, 2015, with Cleveland against Philadelphia.

40,000 points — Dec. 4, 2019, with the Los Angeles Lakers against Utah.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA