James Harden is getting more comfortable in his Los Angeles Clippers digs with every passing game. And on Thursday night, in a matchup against former teammate Chris Paul and the Golden State Warriors, Harden had to shoulder a bigger offensive workload with Paul George out due to a hip injury. So Harden had an even greater opportunity to cross the 25,000 mark for his career, as he entered the night needing just 20 points to do so.

That is exactly what the Beard did in the third quarter of the Clippers' tussle against the Warriors. Defended by his former backcourt mate in CP3, Harden simply went around him in a simple pick-and-roll with Ivica Zubac, blowing by the Warriors guard and finishing a soft layup off the glass over Dario Saric to score his 20th point on the night and his exact 24,999th and 25,000th regular-season points in the NBA.

Per Tomer Azarly, ClutchPoints Clippers beat reporter, via ClutchPoints Twitter (X):

Only 24 players in NBA history have scored 25,000 or more for their career, so this is nothing short of a major feat for James Harden. Harden has been much-maligned as of late due to his polarizing off-court behavior, but this achievement cements the notion that he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, as if that wasn't a certainty already.

Harden is currently averaging around 16 points per game this season; if he plays in all of the Clippers' games moving forward, which is a big if, he should be able to crack the top 20 all-time in scoring, passing the likes of Jerry West, Reggie Miller, Alex English, and Vince Carter.

The Beard is already 34 years old, so he may have a maximum of five more high-caliber years for his career. Nevertheless, if he stays healthy, he has a chance to crack the 30,000 club, a club that only has seven players in it.

Aside from James Harden, the Clippers have another candidate this season for the 25,000 club in Russell Westbrook. Westbrook has seen a huge decline to his minutes and touches, but at present, he needs just 272 more points to cross the exclusive threshold so chances are he'll be able to pull that off this season.