LeBron James Becomes First NBA Player to Hit Impressive Milestone in Cleveland Return

LeBron James played in front of the Cleveland crowd for the only time this season on Wednesday | David Richard-Imagn Images

LeBron James hit the floor at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena Wednesday in a return home for the Akron, Ohio, native. The Lakers’ trip to play the Cavaliers in James’s record 23rd NBA season brought out all the emotions for the 41-year-old star. The overtures weren’t all, however, as James reached an NBA first in the contest.

Entering the night, James played 59,976 total minutes over his illustrious career. On Wednesday, he played 27 minutes in a 129-99 loss for Los Angeles, which made James the first player in league history to cross the 60,000-minute threshold. To put the milestone into perspective, 60,000 minutes is 41 ⅔ days—nearly a month and a half of real time that James has been on the floor during NBA action.

In NBA terms, a player starting their career fresh would need to play in every minute (not including potential overtime minutes) of all 82 regular-season games for over 15 seasons to cross 60,000 minutes. That’s certainly not realistic, hammering home the fact that the NBA’s all-time scoring leader likely set another record we won’t see broken any time soon, if ever. In an otherwise quiet game where the Cavs won by 30 as James had 11 points and five assists, you have to admire the feats he continues to reach a month past his 41st birthday.

Who are the NBA’s career leaders in minutes played?

James has held the NBA’s minutes record for some time, but Wednesday’s milestone further illustrates the longevity of his extraordinary career. According to Stathead, only seven players in NBA history have played 50,000 or more minutes of their careers with James out in front, now with 60,003 total minutes.

Here’s a look at the NBA’s all-time leaders in minutes:

Rank	Player	Total career minutes played
1	LeBron James	60,003
2	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	57,446
3	Karl Malone	54,852
4	Dirk Nowitzki	51,368
5	Kevin Garnett	50,418
6	Jason Kidd	50,111
7	Elvin Hayes	50,000

With the loss to Cleveland, James and the Lakers dropped to 28-18 on the year, fifth place in the loaded Western Conference.

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