The Los Angeles Lakers‘ 136-115 blowout win over the New Orleans Pelicans might have otherwise been unremarkable save for a momentous achievement from LeBron James. The Pelicans are one of the NBA‘s worst teams and have an uncertain direction; the Lakers, after finding a way to pair James with star guard Luka Doncic, are establishing themselves as an NBA title contender in 2025.
But the victory over New Orleans was important for James, who became the first player in NBA history to reach 50,000 combined points between the regular season and the playoffs. And according to Doncic, who has been James’ teammate for all of one month, “The King” might not be anywhere close to finished, even at 40 years old!
Doncic “surrenders” to James: He might get to 70k!
Doncic has made a bold prediction James’ future following LeBron‘s most recent milestone, and it has cast doubt on James’ long-held assertion that he would retire after the 2025/26 season.
“It’s amazing, watching him do this stuff at this age,” Doncic told the media following the win over 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.”
James, newly crowned as the Western Conference Player of the Month for February, is putting together a strong season despite his “advanced” age. James is averaging 24.9 points per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor, while his 8.5 assists and 8.0 rebounds per contest are both higher than his 2023/24 averages.
The red-hot Lakers, winners of seven consecutive games, enjoy a half-game lead over the Denver Nuggets in the race to be the #2 seed in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has the NBA’s fourth-best record at 39-21, marking an impressive debut season on the bench for rookie head coach J.J. Redick.
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