The Five Best Moments From LeBron James’s Eight-Year Run With Lakers, Ranked

LeBron James will be back next season after all, just not with the Lakers. As he noodled on whether to retire, return to Los Angeles or head elsewhere, he informed the Lakers that he will continue his NBA career elsewhere, according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The massive decision ends an incredible eight-year run with the Lakers that included the franchise’s 17th NBA title, endless records shattered and two seasons with his son Bronny as a teammate. James’s stint in L.A. is a Hall of Fame career in and of itself, which will amount to just a third of his NBA days as he enters his 24th season in a new uniform later this year.

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While suitors line up and James’s next monumental decision hangs in the balance, it’s time to take a look back at everything he accomplished over the past eight years while donning the purple and gold. From many jaw-dropping and record-setting options, here are our five favorites, ranked from bottom to top:

5. LeBron becomes first player to reach 40,000 points

Just one of the absurd scoring marks James accomplished during his Lakers tenure, becoming the first player to reach 40,000 points stands out because of the sheer volume of points that is. He scored his 40,000th point on a smooth drive and lefty finish against the Nuggets on March 2, 2024. The game continued on and he got an ovation when he made the layup and again at the next dead ball, but it was much more casual of a moment compared to the all-time scoring record.

After 23 seasons, James has 43,440 points—still the only player to reach the 40,000 mark by a longshot. To put that number into context, Kevin Durant, the closest active player to James, currently sits at 32,597 career points. He could get to 40,000, but he’d have to average 22.6 points per game or more for four more seasons. He’ll turn 38 before next season starts, which means he’d have to continue on at an elite level at an even older age than James is now. And that’s just to get to 40,000, without coming anywhere close to James’s number once he calls it quits.

4. LeBron becomes NBA’s all-time leading scorer

LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer | USA TODAY Sports

James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer a year earlier and it was quite the spectacle. After the Lakers finished a five-game swing on the East Coast, James needed 36 points to break the record at home with two games to do so. Well, he wrapped it up in the Lakers’ first game back at Crypto.com Arena with a 38-point performance against the Thunder.

He set the record with a smooth turnaround jumper as the clock dwindled in the third quarter, which capped a 16-point frame. Once he drained the shot, he threw his hands in the air as he ran down the court and the game took a brief break to honor the NBA’s new scoring leader with Abdul-Jabbar in the building to pass the torch himself.

3. LeBron leads the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship

It says something about how good his run with the Lakers was for there to be enough memorable moments that a championship lands third on this list.

The Lakers missed the playoffs in James’s first season in L.A., but the massive deal for Anthony Davis took place over the offseason and the duo won a title in their first season together. Critics love to discredit the ring that took place within the bubble in 2020 as the league dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, but this title was as legit as they come. James and Davis were an unstoppable duo over the playoffs as they averaged over 27 points per game apiece. They took down the Jimmy Butler-led Heat in six games as James dropped 40 points in Game 5 and followed that up with a 28-point triple-double in the closeout Game 6.

It was James’s fourth NBA title and first as a Laker, bringing the franchise its 17th ring. He received Finals MVP honors once again, doing so in each of his four championship seasons.

2. Kobe Bryant memorial speech

From one Lakers legend to another.

James was in his second season as a Laker as the franchise, friends, family and the entire basketball world grieved the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif. The NBA postponed a Lakers-Clippers game the day after the accident and the team returned to the floor mere days later in an incredibly emotional affair.

The entire team wore No. 8 or No. 24 Bryant jerseys as James stepped onto the Lakers’ logo at midcourt to deliver a difficult tribute. He prepared a speech, but crumpled up his paper before he went into his remarks. “Laker nation, I’d be selling y’all short if I read off this s--- so I’m gonna go straight from the heart,” he said.

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What followed was a heartfelt tribute about family, their shared love of basketball and, now, a shared Lakers legacy.

“I want to continue along with my teammates, to continue his legacy not only for this year, but as long as we can play the game of basketball that we love because that’s what Kobe Bryant would want,” James said.

“So in the words of Kobe Bryant, Mamba out. But in the words of us, not forgotten. Live on brother.”

1. LeBron, Bronny become NBA’s first father-son duo

Call me a sap, but LeBron and Bronny checking into an NBA game at the same time to become the first father-son duo to play together in league history was unbelievable. The Lakers made Bronny the No. 55 pick in the 2024 draft and the pair shared the court together for the first time during L.A.’s season opener.

It was all business, but it was truly a historic NBA moment as the entire James family beamed with pride and so many other fathers and sons watched from around the globe. It was a dream of LeBron’s to play with Bronny, one of the few things he’d yet to accomplish in his 21st season. Although Bronny spent much of his first season in the G League, he turned into an impactful role player last season and even finished a lob from his dad during the Lakers’ first-round series against the Rockets.

Bronny’s contract became fully guaranteed for next season a day before LeBron’s massive decision to leave the Lakers. It’s unknown what that means for Bronny’s immediate future, but he’s carved out a nice role for himself as an impactful depth piece in L.A. The memories shared over the past two seasons can’t be beat: LeBron’s mom got to watch her son and her grandson play together in the same NBA game. Nobody else can say that.

Maybe next season will be their first as opponents. Hopefully Bronny doesn’t fall victim to one of LeBron’s signature chasedown blocks.

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