LeBron James continues to make NBA history.
On Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Lakers great scored 34 points and became the first player in the history of The Association to reach 50,000 career points.
James’ tally is made up of 41,871 regular season points and 8,162 postseason points.
He is currently in his 22nd season in the league and playing at an MVP level – a ridiculous feat given he turned 40 in December.
“I’m not going to sugar-coat it – it’s a hell of a lot of points,” said James.
“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.”
Myriad legends and celebrities congratulated King James on his unprecedented achievement, including former NFL wide receiver Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson.
The former Bengals wideout turned beloved media personality took to X to reveal that LeBron had even ‘gifted’ him a rare piece of memorabilia.
“I just want to thank @KingJames for allowing me to have the 50 thousand point ball from last nights game, I’m honored to have you as friend & your generosity is unmatched, will display it on @NightcapShow_. i salute & thank you 
,” Ocho wrote.
Ocho kept true to his word and showed off the alleged 50k game ball on Nightcap — the podcast he co-hosts with fellow NFL legend Shannon Sharpe.
“This is the power of Twitter,” Johnson said.
“I asked LeBron if I could get his 50,000 point ball, He didn’t respond but he sent me the ball. He signed it.”
“Listen, I’m trying not to get emotional. S**,” Johnson added, taking his sunglasses off and wiping his eyes.
“He sent a note with it and this is what really touched me. This means a lot to me.
“On the note along with the ball, he [James] said, ‘Ocho, I’m passing my 50,000 point ball to you.
“‘You’ve been a legend in your own right and your energy, passion, and love for the game has always inspired me. This ball represents everything I’ve worked for and I want you to have it as a token of respect for your grind and the way you’ve embraced everything you do because nothing is given, everything is earned.’
“‘I appreciate you bro, keep being great, love LeBron.’
“And he signed it for me’”.
At that point, Ocho held the alleged game ball up to the camera, revealing it was actually just a normal ball he’d written the words, ‘King James, 50K’ on in black marker pen.
Sharpe immediately burst out laughing at his co-hosts long-winded — and extremely well acted — prank.
Ocho also burst into laughter, eyes filling up — not from genuine emotion — but from creasing so hard.
“Ocho got me in tears,” one fan commented.
“Ocho missed his calling as an actor for real,” joked another.
“Ocho funny as hell,” a third added.
Since Luka Doncic joined the Lakers before the February deadline, the purple and gold have gone 7-2.
They’re now second in the Western Conference with a 39-21 record and looking like genuine title contenders.
