On Thursday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers are hosting the Dallas Mavericks in California.
LeBron James is in the starting lineup after missing Monday’s 122-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Colorado (which snapped a five-game winning streak for the Lakers).
The four-time NBA Champion came into Thursday’s game just 35 points away from scoring his 38,000th career point.
Via the NBA: “LeBron’s updated scoring tracker… He sits 35 away from 38,000 and 423 away from the all-time record ahead of tonight’s 10 PM ET matchup vs. Dallas on TNT.”
James would become just the second player in the history of the NBA to reach that milestone (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 pointswhich is the most in league history).
Coming into Thursday’s game, the former first-overall pick had averages of 29.1 points per contest (on 51.0% shooting from the field).
So far this season, he has already scored 35+ points six times.
On Christmas Day, James had 38 points against the Mavs, so he may score his 38,000th point during Thursday’s game.
He is in his 20th season in the NBA and fifth season playing for the Lakers.
Last month, James turned 38, but he is still among the top ten players in the entire league.
The Lakers are 19-22 in 41 games, which has them as the 12th seed in the Western Conference (but only one game out of the seventh seed).
James led them to the NBA Championship in 2020, but they also missed the NBA Playoffs in two of his four seasons with the franchise.
In addition to the Lakers, he has also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice) and the Miami Heat.
Later this season, he will likely pass Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s leader in all-time points.
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