As LeBron James continues to defy Father Time with incredible performances at age 40, one of his Lakers teammates has made a huge prediction. After James reached the 50,000 scoring threshold on March 4, Luka Doncic predicted that he could potentially play a few more years to reach the 70,000 mark.
“It’s amazing, watching him do this stuff at this age,” Doncic said of James after the Lakers defeated the Pelicans. “It’s just unbelievable, that 50K points. I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might get to 70K. You never know.”
Luka was in awe of LeBron James reaching 50,000 PTS (combined reg. season & playoffs) 🤩
And he doesn’t see an end in sight to the King’s reign 👀
James entered the game with 49,999 points after falling short of the 50K record in the Lakers’ previous game against the Clippers. The veteran forward previously broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s regular-season scoring record on February 7, 2023, nearly six years after eclipsing Michael Jordan’s record for most playoff points.
– Luka on LeBron
Can LeBron James Get To 70k?
As of March 5, James had 41,871 regular-season points and 8,162 postseason points, bringing his grand tally to 50,033 points. For James to realistically reach 70,000 points, he would have to play at least another eight full seasons. Perhaps Doncic was being facetious with his comments, but can anyone really doubt James?
“I mean, that’s a lot of points,” James said after reaching the 50,000 milestone, via The Guardian. “Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is where I’m from. Picking up the game when I was a little kid and having a love for the sport, and hoping that someday I’d be able to play at the highest level. I’ve been able to do that and really enjoy my career. So it’s definitely an honor. It’s pretty cool to see that.”
James also spoke about the importance of falling in love “with the process” to his longevity and ability to break records.
Can Lakers Win The Championship?
“Continuing to fall in love with the process, that’s the hardest thing, every single year,” James stressed. “You know it’s going to be a long season. It’s 82 games, 41 of them are on the road. It’s a lot of travel. And as you get older, it affects you even differently. If you have a family, it affects you even differently. So the process. Trying not to fall out of love with the process is the hardest thing.”
The individual milestones notwithstanding, the icing on the cake for James would be to capture his fifth championship in his 22nd season. No player in NBA history has sustained James’ level of greatness into the age 40 season.
As of March 5, the Lakers (+1000) had the fourth-shortest odds to win the championship, per BetMGM, behind only the Celtics (+225), Thunder (+225) and Cavaliers (+600). If James can win a championship in his 22nd season, he could potentially surpass Michael Jordan as the Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.) in the eyes of some pundits.
—@stephenasmith on LeBron James reaching 50K combined career points 👀
“There is nobody who has been as good for as long,” Stephen A Smith said of James on the March 5 episode of “First Take” on ESPN. “Meaning longevity — a sustained level of pristine excellence. LeBron James is the G.O.A.T. in that category …. [Michael] Jordan wasn’t this good for that long,”
Luka Doncic Makes Major LeBron James Prediction