LeBron James clinches rare record after scoring 35K career points across 18 seasons in NBA

On Thursday, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James achieved another incredible milestone despite his team's defeat against the Brooklyn Nets. LeBron racked up 32 points against the Nets in the Lakers' 109-98 loss at the Staples Center and became only the third player in league history to surpass 35,000 points, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. In every season of his illustrious career in the NBA, James has scored at least 1,500 points and has gone over 2,000 points in a season 10 times.

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LeBron James career points: Lakers superstar surpasses 35,000 points in defeat against Nets

Heading into the game against Steve Nash's men on Thursday night, four-time NBA champion LeBron James needed a mere 15 points to reach 35,000 career points. He achieved the feat in only the second quarter of the game. James went to the free-throw line to down double-digits against the Nets and sank his first attempt to reach 15 on the night, which got him past the 35,000 point-mark. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tops the NBA's all-time scoring list with 38,387 points while Malone has 36,928 points. James now needs a little more than 3,300 points to catch Abdul-Jabbar. At his current career pace of 27 points per game, it would take James another 72 games to reach Malone. He would, therefore, be expected to pass him at some point next season.

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At that pace, he would need roughly 126 games to reach Abdul-Jabbar and break the incredible milestone given that he doesn't slow down over time. James, at 36, however, became the youngest player to reach 35,000 career points in the NBA. He's averaging 25.9 points this season for the Lakers. LeBron is currently in his 18th season in the NBA and has previously played for the Miami Heat in between two spells with his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

LeBron's entrance into the 35,000-point club also came on the same night he was named a starter for his 17th NBA All-Star appearance. Only Abdul-Jabbar (19) and Kobe Bryant (18) have had more All-Star honours than LeBron.

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Lakers vs Nets: Frank Vogel's side suffer defeat against Eastern Conference giants

Although LeBron reached an incredible milestone on Thursday, the Lakers suffered their eighth defeat of the season. Nets' James Harden scored 23 points while Joe Harris added 21 with six 3-pointers as Steve Nash's men earned their 19th win of the campaign. The victory for the Nets was their fifth in a row. 

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Image Credits - nba.com