LOS ANGELES (AFP) — LeBron James became the first player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to score 50,000 career points on Tuesday, extending his lead as the league’s all-time record scorer by reaching a milestone tally that may never be surpassed.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar went into the game against the New Orleans Pelicans with 49,999 regular and postseason points after a 17-point performance in Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

It did not take long for the 40-year-old NBA icon to get the solitary point needed to reach the 50,000-point barrier.

James, who is in dazzling form in the 22nd season of a glittering career, gathered a pass from Luka Doncic and unfurled a sublime 25-foot three-pointer to move to 50,002 points with the Crypto.com Arena crowd roaring their acclaim.

James finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Doncic delivered another impressive display with 30 points and 15 assists as the Lakers went on to win 136-115 — their seventh straight victory.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it — it’s a hell of a lot of points,” James said afterwards when asked about his 50,000-point scoring milestone.

“I’m super blessed to be able to put up that many points in my career in the best league in the world and against the best players in the world — it’s pretty special.”

James had passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s previous all-time regular-season scoring record of 38,387 points in 2023 — itself a record that had stood for 39 years.

James is now nearly 6,000 points clear of Abdul-Jabbar’s total career points tally of 44,149, with Karl Malone third (41,689 points) and the late Kobe Bryant fourth with 39,283 points.

Michael Jordan is fifth on the all-time scoring list with 38,279.

Among active NBA players, only Kevin Durant with just over 35,000 points — roughly 15,000 points behind James — makes the top 10.

Lakers legend Earvin Magic Johnson led the tributes to James’ achievement.

“Congratulations to the King LeBron James for becoming the only player in NBA history to score 50,000 regular season and playoff points!” Johnson wrote on X.

James’ scoring milestone on Tuesday came hours after he clinched another NBA record after being named as Western Conference Player of the Month for February — making him the oldest player to win a player of the month award.

James was instrumental in leading the Lakers to a 10-2 record in February, averaging 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Stephen Curry delivered a 28-point masterpiece as the Golden State Warriors overpowered the New York Knicks 114-102 at Madison Square Garden to maintain their push for an automatic postseason berth.

Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski gave Curry scoring support with 19 points apiece to give the Warriors a win which lifts them into sixth place in the Western Conference standings.

The Warriors have now won nine out of 10 games with Butler in the starting line-up since his trade from the Miami Heat.

“Y’all know who he is, and what he’s been able to do in this league,” Curry said.

“He’s a superstar. He’s won and lifted teams and he’s doing it with us. We’re all trying to do our part around him.”

The Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers romped to their 11th straight victory with a 139-117 blowout of the Chicago Bulls.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs scoring with 28 points as Cleveland improved to 51-10 for the season, leaving them eight games clear of second-placed Boston at the top of the East.

In Atlanta, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 26 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks past the Hawks with a 127-121 victory. The Bucks are fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 35-25 record.