LeBron James made his NBA debut two decades ago as a 19-year-old kid from Akron, Ohio. But “King James” has been wearing his crown for a long time now.
James, 38, is the oldest player in the NBA as the 2023-24 regular season tips off. The 19-time All-Star begins his 21st professional season on the road in a Los Angeles Lakers matchup with the defending-champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. James and the Lakers were swept by Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in last season’s Western Conference Finals.
The four-time MVP played only 55 games a season ago, tied for the second-fewest of his career, though he still averaged 28.9 points (on 50 percent shooting), 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists. The Lakers finished seventh in the West (43-39), even after starting the year 2-10.
James surpassed Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in February. And the four-time NBA champion is chasing more greatness this time around.
Here are five milestones James can hit during his 21st NBA season.
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James Can Become First 40k Scorer
As the new season tips off, James is only 1,348 points shy of 40,000 regular-season points in his career — a mark no player has reached in NBA history.
James averages just over 27 points per game for his career. At that pace, the former scoring champion would hit the 40k point in roughly 50 games, give or take. So, assuming James doesn’t miss significant time, he could surpass that scoring milestone in January or February.
The former No. 1 overall pick is also chasing Abdul-Jabbar for a scoring record again this season, just a different one. The former Lakers center averaged 23.4 points during the 1985-86 season, the highest scoring average of any player who is the oldest in the league at the time. Abdul-Jabbar was 39 that season. The six-time NBA champion is the only “oldest player” to average 20 points in a season, doing so twice.
James has never averaged fewer than 20.9 points in a season.
All-Star Record In Reach
James has earned All-Star honors in 19 of his 20 NBA seasons so far, with his rookie year in 2003-04 being the lone exception. No NBA player has ever earned 20 All-Star appearances.
The Lakers forward is currently tied for the most All-Star selection all-time. And yes, he’s tied with… Abdul-Jabbar. The oldest player in the NBA has been picked for the All-Star game on 13 previous occasions, per the league. James’ 19 total All-NBA selections are already the most in the league’s 77-season history.
Most Games, Minutes Played
Going into season No. 21, James ranks third and ninth all-time in minutes and games played, respectively, in the regular season. The former Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat great already owns the playoff records in both of those categories.
James has played 54,093 minutes of regular-season basketball in the NBA, including 1,954 last season. A similar output this season would move him well above Karl Malone, who is in second place at 54,852. If James, who has appeared in 1,421 regular-season games, were to play all 82 games in 2023-24, he would move up to sixth all-time.
Robert Parish is the all-time regular-season leader with 1,611 career games.
Combining the regular season and playoffs, James could surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s records for minutes (66,297) and games (1,797). The four-time Finals MVP needs to record 550 minutes and 94 games to break both.
Most Field Goal Attempts, Misses
In other “James chasing Abdul-Jabbar” news, the former needs only 264 more field-goal attempts to surpass the latter’s regular-season record of 28,307. James will soon also pass another Lakers great, Kobe Bryant, for the most career regular-season field goal misses.
Bryant missed 14,481 regular-season shots during his career. James needs only 589 more misses to hit that mark. But for comparison, James is a career 50.5 percent shooter from the field, compared to Bryant’s 44.7. James has already taken 1,844 more shots than Bryant did.
Inaugural Member of 40k-11k-11k Club
James is only 580 assists and 333 rebounds shy of hitting the 11,000 milestone in both statistics.
Only 30 players have 11,000 or more rebounds over their NBA careers, while only three have at least that many assists. No player has surpassed that mark in both categories. At least not yet. Across 55 games last season, James tallied 375 assists and 457 rebounds. But as recent as the 2019-20 season, James led the league by dishing out 684 assists.
Whether it happens this season, or he has to wait for a future campaign, it seems inevitable that James will become the first player with 40,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, and 11,000 assists.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.