Ever since draft night in 2003, it was only a matter of time until LeBron James reached 30,000 career points. The moment finally came just before the first quarter buzzer of Tuesday’s game against the Spurs, when James drained a tough mid-range jumper in Danny Green’s face.
James received some well-deserved hugs from his teammates. At 33 years and 24 days old, James surpassed Kobe Bryant as the youngest player to reach the 30,000-point milestone by more than a year. Bryant reached it at 34 years, 104 days.
Folks from all over, including his family, congratulated The King on social media, even though LeBron had already congratulated himself before he actually reached the milestone.
Love all around. LeBron’s wife and kids recognize his 30K-point milestone. pic.twitter.com/AVG62OwoZy
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) January 24, 2018
Congratulations to LeBron on reaching 30,000 points – yet another milestone in an extraordinary career that continues to inspire. – Adam
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2018
RJ, @Swish41, @CP3 & other members of the @NBA family congratulate #LeBron on his big career milestone | @Wayside_Akron pic.twitter.com/Ne3btejR1Z
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) January 24, 2018
So, the 30,000 point, 7,000 rebound, 7,000 assist club now exists.
LeBron is the only one in it. And it's possible no one else ever joins.
— Kelly Scaletta (@KellyScaletta) January 24, 2018
Before he does it himself, allow me to be the first person to congratulate LeBron on soon joining the 30,100-points club.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 24, 2018
S/O Lebron on the youngest to reach 30k points dude really the GOAT
— Mike Wallace (@Wallace17_daKid) January 24, 2018
The youngest player in NBA history to hit the following point milestones…
1K-LeBron James
2k-LeBron James
3k-LeBron James…— nick wright (@getnickwright) January 24, 2018
There's 30,000 for LeBron. Youngest to ever do it. Props to him. Came in with the most impossible expectations, and has exceeded them all.
— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) January 24, 2018
It was such a big moment that even Skip Bayless gave LeBron some praise!
Congratulations, LeBron.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 24, 2018
Well, not really.
Too bad the best two-way player in basketball couldn't have been guarding LeBron when he topped 30,000 points. Get well soon, Kawhi.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 24, 2018
James will pass Julius Erving for No. 7 all-time before the end of the month. Even with LeBron score at a far higher rate than Dirk Nowitzki these days, he’ll probably have to wait until next season to pass The Big Mummy.
However, he still has his work cut out if he wants to pass the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. To surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points, James would need to average 24 points over the next five seasons at 70 games per year. Considering James’ career average is 27.1 points and this season, at 33 years old, has been among the best of his career, that’s certainly doable.