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James, playing in his 20th NBA season, needed 11 points to reach
38,000 points and hit a mid-range jumper in the first quarter of
the Los Angeles Lakers' home game against the Philadelphia 76ers
to move past the milestone.
James eventually finished with 35 points but it was a
bittersweet night as the Lakers lost 113-112.
The 38-year-old forward, who started his career with the
Cleveland Cavaliers and also played for the Miami Heat, has
averaged 29 points per game this season.
A four-times champion and four-times MVP, James is on course to
break former Lakers center Abdul-Jabbar's 34-year-old record of
38,387 points in the coming weeks.
When James turned 38 last month, Abdul-Jabbar had wished him
happy birthday with the message: "38 is the new 38,388."
James is now 363 points behind Abdul-Jabbar and based on his
scoring average, NBA statisticians expect him to break the
record before the All-Star break next month.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford and Christopher Cushing)
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