Magic Johnson Salutes LeBron James After Witnessing Historic 40,000th Point in Person

The Lakers legend had a message for the league’s all-time scoring leader after he eclipsed the NBA milestone.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James continued a record-setting career by becoming the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points. He hit the mark on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena against the Denver Nuggets, and former NBA great Magic Johnson was among those in attendance.

Johnson took to social media to show some love to James following his accomplishment.

“Congratulations to LeBron James for being the first and only player in NBA history to score 40,000 points!” Johnson posted on X, formerly Twitter. “I’m so glad I was here to witness such an incredible feat!”

Johnson provided additional thoughts in a second post.

“I love that I’m here tonight, I got to see when LeBron broke Kareem’s record, and the fact I was the one who passed it to Kareem when he originally set the record!” Johnson posted. “Now we need the Lakers to pull out a victory to make the night even bigger and better for LeBron!”

Congratulations to LeBron James for being the first and only player in NBA history to score 40,000 points! I’m so glad I was here to witness such an incredible feat! @KingJames pic.twitter.com/IdfjsrSLKJ

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) March 3, 2024

Unfortunately for James and Johnson, the Nuggets won the game, 124–114.

Johnson, who won five championships with Los Angeles, was selected by the Lakers with the first pick in the 1979 NBA draft. He was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was named NBA MVP three times (1987, ’89, ’90).

James trails Magic in only one of those statistical categories, as he’s won four championships thus far in his illustrious NBA career. Along with reaching the 40,000-point mark, he’s made an NBA-record 20 All-Star appearances while being named league MVP four times (2009, ’10, ’12, ’13).