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LeBron James Evokes Wilt Chamberlain After Becoming First NBA Player to Score 40,000 Points

The Los Angeles Lakers forward recreated one of the most iconic photographs in sports history.
Patrick Andres|
LeBron James Evokes Wilt Chamberlain After Becoming First NBA Player to Score 40,000 Points
LeBron James Evokes Wilt Chamberlain After Becoming First NBA Player to Score 40,000 Points

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Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers may have lost 124–114 to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday evening, but the game was still in some respects a cause for celebration.

In the second quarter, Lakers forward LeBron James scored the 40,000th point of his career, reaching a plateau no other NBA player has ever reached.

The event prompted further reflections on James’s continued greatness at age 39, and the future Hall of Famer commemorated his achievement by mimicking one of the most famous photographs in the history of sports.

James posed with a piece of paper that read “40,000” along with the date—March 2, 2024.

The reference, to Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, was unmistakable.

Like Chamberlain did 62 years earlier, James has blazed a new trail for NBA greatness. And as was the case for Chamberlain, James may not be done making history just yet.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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